The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly Weeks 18 and 19

Carl Landry is wearing a Top Hat. Your Argument is Invalid.

It was a busy two weeks for me, so this version of the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly encompasses the last two weeks.  Better late than never right?

The Good:

1. Carl Landry

See Player of the Week

2. Spencer Hawes

Ever since his benching against Detroit and JT's injury, Spencer has been playing like the Spencer we've been wanting to see all year.  He's defending like a 7 footer, he's rebounding like a 7 footer, and he's making the Kings offense better by hitting shots and cutters.  His attitude has seemingly changed, and for the better.  Let's hope that this is the Spencer we see for the rest of the year.  With JT coming back soon, it will be interesting to see how it affects Spencer's minutes.  I hope not for the worse unless JT starts playing like he was at the beginning of the year.

3. The return of the Effort of the 1st half of the year

Those two practice days after the Detroit game really helped the Kings and in the subsequent games, they've been playing like the team that got us so excited at the beginning of the year.  Once again it started with a win against Utah, and we beat a team we should have beat in the Clippers, held our own against the Thunder and Mavs, and got a quality (if ugly) road win against Houston.  This is a team we can expect to be competing in games for the rest of the year.

4. Wabeno Udrih

Beno has returned in spectacular form since being given a major role since Kevin's departure.  His shots are falling again, he's playing good defense, and he's become one of the team's de facto leaders on the court.  The Beno we've seen this year has been worthy of his contract.  Hopefully we continue to see this Beno for the rest of his time here in Sacramento.

5. Francisco Garcia's return to health

Francisco has been playing like a guy who never had his wrist broken.  He's hitting shots (even from 40 feet), playing aggressive defense, and trying to make the same boneheaded plays we know he can.  And you know the guys on the team respect him.  He's the teams leader, and has the young guys respect in a way Kevin never did.  It would have been interesting to see what would have happened if Cisco hadn't broken his wrist and could've played all year.  Our record would've been a few games better I think. 

6. Sean May

I've got to hand it to Sean.  He comes in and tries to make an impact on the game.  And he has been, in key situations too.  Hitting his patented long-range jumper, grabbing key rebounders, even blocking a shot or two.  May likely isn't part of the Kings future, but he definitely has a place in this league, and I think could start or be a key rotation guy for some teams.

7. Garrett Temple

From what little I've seen of Garrett Temple, he looks to have been a decent pickup for a 10 day contract.  I wonder if we'll lock him up for the rest of the season to keep our guard depth.  Hopefully and more importantly though, players like Temple help show the organization how useful the Developmental League can be.  I hope the Kings become more hands-on with their D-League affiliate.  It could be a nice place to send some young guys to in the next couple of years to work on different aspects of their games.

8. Ime Udoka's Defense

His offense isn't always there, but Ime is always giving his all when he's on the court.  Of the Kings on minimum contracts this year, Ime is the one I'd most like to see come back next year, because I think having a guy like that in practice and on the court is invaluable.  Playing against bad defenders in practice simply leads to bad habits.

9. Limiting Turnovers

Other than the Maverick and Phoenix games, the Kings have been doing a great job at limiting their turnovers.  They've had 3 games under 10, and no more than 13 in all but two games (Dallas and Phoenix).  I think a lot of this has to do with the new and old players finally developing some chemistry and learning each others games.

10. The Peach-quel Official T-Shirt.

This shirt is simply awesome. I want to personally thank M4L for such an awesome shirt.  Make sure to buy your shirt and/or tickets to the Peach-quel on March 19th, and I'll see you there.  Should be a fun game.

The Bad:

1. Omri Casspi is Tired

Omri has become a relative non-factor as of late.  His shots aren't falling, he's not rebounding as well, he's missing assignments on defense.  It's been sort of disappointing after the hot start he had, but he's still a top notch rookie and a guy who I think will be a key building block in our future.  He definitely needs to work on his conditioning this summer so he can last longer next year, and probably get some more muscle definition. 

2. Donté Greene

Since Cisco's return, Donté has seen his minutes take a BIG hit.  After a 42 minute performance against Phoenix, he's had one DNP-CD, and the most minutes he's played have been 24.  His offense hasn't been that great, and more importantly his defense has seemed to regress as of late, and I think thats a big factor as to why we're not seeing more of Donté on the court.  No matter what happens the rest of the season though, this years Buckéts has been a huge improvement over last years version, and I hope we see the same type of improvement next year.  He has the highest ceiling on the Kings besides Tyreke in my opinion.

3. Tyreke Evans Free Throw shooting

Tyreke has been fairly consistent all year in most areas of his game, but as of late, his free throw stroke has been suffering.  He's getting to the line more than ever (10.7 FTA in last 7 games, season average is 6.6), but he's only converting on 58.9% of his Free Throws over that same time span.  For a guy shooting in the mid 70s for the year (and thats after this atrocious stretch), thats a big difference.  Tyreke needs to regain his confidence at the line, because getting there and making them is a big part of his game.

4. Kings Switch Defense

This has been horrible all year.  Tyreke especially is really bad at it, often settling to guard the nearest player and leaving the player he should have switched on wide open (Aaron Brooks wide open three at buzzer for example).  This next year the Kings and Westphal desperately need to work on improving the teams defense, not so much the individual players defense, but the concept of team defense.  Pick and Roll defense especially.

5. Andres Nocioni

Noc has seen limited playing time as of late, and although he played well against Dallas, he stunk whenever else had had been inserted into the lineup and as such his minutes have disappeared.  I really hope Noc doesn't become the Kings latest unloadable albatross of a contract, because the Kings need him to be productive if they can't trade him.  Although I suspect its not for lack of trying.

The Ugly:

1. Detroit loss at Home

Detroit is a team that is much better on paper than it actually is in reality.  Still though, to go down by 30 to a team like this at Home is unacceptable, regardless of whether you came back to make it look a lot closer than it was.  Rip Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince were able to do pretty much whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted, and the Kings offense could not get anything going other than Tyreke and Mandry.

2. 2nd Half of the Phoenix game

After playing the Suns better than we had all year in the 1st half, the Kings decided to stop playing offense or defense in the 2nd half and ended up losing by 16, when they were up at halftime.  Phoenix has definitely had our number this year, but its still not acceptable to get out of the flow of your offense that much.  Effort needs to be consistent for 48 minutes on both ends of the floor, not just when its convenient.

3. The Entire Houston Game

Yes we won, but this was the ugliest game I have ever seen.  Neither team could get anything going on offense.  Tyreke was an absolute non-factor, and only Carl Landry and Cisco had games that you could call good and not be called crazy.  Even though the defense seemed improved, the Kings let the Rockets get back in it in the final seconds, and then when Tyreke failed to switch a screen, left Aaron Brooks (League Leader in 3PM, although he went 2-13 that night) with a wide open 3 that would have sent this game to overtime.  Luckily, the shot missed, like pretty much everything else that night, and this game would have been a whole lot uglier if the Kings hadn't won.

4. Defensive Rebounding

The Kings currently suck at Defensive Rebounding.  On the offensive glass they're quite good, but with JT and Brock Ness out, the defensive rebounding, bad all year, has become ugly.  Only Omri and Tyreke are above average rebounders for their position, and they're not the guys that are usually in a good position for a rebound.  Spencer has picked up the pace as of late, but the team as a whole is not good.  This was especially evident in the Thunder game, which we should have won, had we not allowed so many 2nd chance points.  If anyone can find me the league leaders in giving up 2nd chance points, I'd be willing to bet that the Kings were top 5.

5. Jason Thompson's Injury

Jason Thompson broke two vertebrae in his back against Detroit and has missed his first NBA games due to injury.  Ironman has become damaged, but hopefully we'll see him again soon.

6. The Spencer v. Westphal debacle

Spencer's benching during the Detroit game was an ugly affair.  Fortunately it seems like a lot of it was blown out of proportion, and in all likelihood we probably didn't get the full story, and Westphal being in a bad mood because of his wife could have been a factor, but I'm glad that this is behind us and that Spencer has been playing well ever since it.

Player of the Past Two Weeks:

Carl Landry

18.4 PPG, .524 FG%, 6.6 FTA, .935 FT%, 6.7 RPG, 1 APG

Carl Landry has added a new dynamic to the Kings offense.  The Kings finally have a low post presence that teams have to respect, and I think a big reason we're seeing less stagnation in our offense as of late is because we've been able to dump it down low to Big Carl when we need points and he's either able to score or draw the foul.  And drawing the foul for him has basically been getting two points.  This guy is a ridiculous FT shooter for a big man.  The only PFs who shoot better at Free throws than Landry are David West and Dirk Nowitzki, and Landry draws more attempts than West.  This guy has it all offensively.  Inside, Outside, can hit the glass.  He works hard on defense too, although his defensive rebounding leaves something to be desired.  Still though, you can't help but loving Mandry and what he brings to this team.

Comments of the Week:

How can a team that employs Sean May be thin up front?

by section214 on Feb 25, 2010 4:17 PM PST reply actions   25 recs

Kevin was all like :

Meanwhile Landry was just like:

by Apoet on Mar 3, 2010 8:26 PM PST reply actions   13 recs

Highlights of the Weeks:

The Chest-Bump of Glory

And Landry's hustle leads to epic Cisco 3.

Caption Contest:

Last Week's Winner: section214 AGAIN

Spencer Hawes misses the dunk attempt and instantly qualifies for the 2011 Slam Dunk Contest.

Last Week's Runner-Up: Tie between Andy Sims 

"I’ll bet you two guys think I’m gonna make this."

And SeattleRoyalty

Auto, Fire, Life, Blown Dunk Insurance? State Farm is there.

This Week's Picture:

Lottery Projection and Profile of the Week:

Current Projected Lottery Position: Tied for 5th with New York and Detroit

Current Lottery Range: 3rd - 8th

Draft Profile: Wesley Johnson, 6'7, 195 lbs, SF, Junior, Syracuse

Like Epke Udoh last week, Johnson has benefited greatly from his transfer to Syracuse from Iowa State.  He's shooting the ball better, rebounding a lot better (he's a very good rebounder for his size), getting more assists and turning the ball over less, and he's playing better defense.  His athleticism, size and length make him a tenacious defender, and he's averaging almost 2 blocks and steals a game (each, not together).  He's improved on his 3 point shooting each year in college and is shooting at around a 39-40% clip this year, mainly because he's taking less threes, and settling for the more efficient ones instead.  He's extremely efficient and handles himself like a veteran.  He'll probably be one of the more NBA ready players in the Draft.  He does have some downsides though.  He doesn't really get to the line all that much despite his great athleticism, and he'll be 23 by the time the season starts next year.  Still, Johnson would be another very versatile player for the Kings to pickup and could probably play the 2 or the 3. (He'd probably play the 2 on the Kings).

2nd Draft Profile: Evan Turner, 6'7, 205 lbs, SG/SF, Junior Ohio State

With a great year so far, Turner has climbed the draft boards and has been sitting comfortably in the #2 position on a few mocks for quite a while.  And for good reason. The guy is really good.  In fact, if you look at some of his strengths (versatility, defense, ability to create a shot, creating for others) and his weaknesses (turnover prone, 3 point shot, average explosiveness) you create a picture that looks much like Tyreke Evans.  And an Evans/Turner backcourt would be extremely versatile and talented.  Both are great rebounders for their position.  Both can create for others.  Both can create for themselves.  Both have the talent to be great defenders.  Tyreke can get to the rim at well, Turner has a great mid-range jumper.  The problem lies in whether you see them as being too similar and needing the ball in their hands to be effective.  It's a valid question. 

Next Week's Profile: John Wall

And Nostradumbass Prediction for Next Week:

v. Oklahoma City 3/7 W (The Kings played the Thunder close in Oklahoma City, and this time we have Noc to frustrate the heck out of Durant.  Hopefully we do a better job on Westbrook and can pull this one out.)

@ Portland 3/9 L (The Blazers seemingly have the Kings number.  And now that they have a few more weapons back, I don't think we can beat them at home.)

v. Toronto 3/10 W (The Kings played this team well for 3 quarters in Toronto without Carl Landry, and I think that this is exactly the kind of team that Landry might play well against.  Landry will make Bosh work on both ends of the floor.)

v Portland 3/12 W (I think that Tuesday's eventual loss and the home court will finally spur the Kings to a victory over Portland.)

Nostradumbass Record for the Season 36-26 (Similar winning Percentage to the Portland Trail Blazers)

P.S.  I have a question for you readers.  Is there anything you would like to see changed or added in the Good, the Bad and the Ugly?  What do you like most? What do you like least?  Any feedback at all is appreciated.