Kings To Open At Home On December 26 Against Lakers, According To Report

Pre-season and single game tickets should go on sale as soon as the NBA formally announces the schedule (which is suppose to be tomorrow night).

The price on the ticket said $80 I think. But I wanted a decent seat for the potential last game so I paid a bit more for mid court seats instead of an end.

Plus, I kept that ticket out of the hands of a Laker fan, so I think I did my duty.

as my partner (the senior tix holder) always takes the LA game.

Meant to write “sentence.” Yikes.

I can see what you are saying, but it reeks with homer-ism.

Who does LA have backing Gasol & Bynum??

Well considering those two play a combined 65 minutes a game and Gasol shifts to center so Lamar Fing Odom can play at the 4, pretty sure they are doing alright there.

Other than Kobe, the Kings have better guards than the Lakers and it isn’t even debatable.

Yes, if you just delete their best player it’s true the Kings totally have the better guards.

Only area where they might be better is at the 3 with Artest, Odom, & Barnes. But we have Salmons now who is a proven vet and has playoff experience.

You know who also are proven vets? Artest, Odom, & Barnes. You know who has not only playoff experience but won championships along the way? Artest and Odom.

I like all 3, but I’ll still say the Lakers are better at the 3, for now. I might change that opinion soon, very soon. It’ll just depend on how Westphal uses our guys.

I have a feeeling it will depend largely on whether Odom, Barnes, and Artest are still on the Lakers.

Even if they add Dwight, we’ll still have a better roster, talent-wise.

LMAO

I don’t see how anyone can compare our roster to the Lakers 1-12 and then tell me theirs is better.

Pretty sure you don’t compare a roster by the 1-12 but by how the team is going to allocate the 240 minutes of playing time per game.

Kings Guards: Tyreke Evans, Jimmer Fredette, Isaiah Thomas, Francisco Garcia
Lakers Guards: Kobe Bryant, Derek Fisher, Steve Blake, Andrew Goudelock, Darius Moore

Analysis: Judging by this, Kobe trumps all (in the NBA, one player does have the power to make a huge difference). In terms of overall depth, the Kings have a lot of uncertainty as do the Lakers. Derek Fisher doesn’t have a lot left, but he’s still a solid guard who isn’t asked to do much, same for Steve Blake. The Kings have two still unproven rookies and one decent, if inconsistent, roleplayer. Since the other two Laker guards likely won’t play much barring injury, I’ll ignore them for now.

Verdict: Lakers-The Kings may potentially have the better guards but with two rookies expected to get some kind of extended role, even with Thornton, it comes down to the best players, and in this case Kobe>Tyreke, no if, ands, or buts.

Kings Forwards: John Salmons, Donte Greene, Tyler Honeycutt, JJ Hickson, Jason Thompson
Lakers Forwards: Ron Artest, Devin Ebanks, Derrick Caracter, Pau Gasol, Ater Majok, Lamar Odom, Luke Walton

Analysis: Ron Artest may not have any offense left, but that’s not what the Lakers need out of him; he is still one of the best defenders in the league. They have two great hybrid Forwards in Gasol and Odom. Odom had a career year last year, and Gasol is still enough to give teams fits. Their other forwards play sporadicly(sp?) so they don’t make much of a contribution. John Salmons is a pretty good player, but he’s not as talented as Gasol or Odom, and not anywhere near as good a defender as Artest. He may be a decent scorer and defender but not great by any means. Donte is the king of inconsistency and unlived potential, he hasn’t showed enough to prove he can be a reliable contributor yet. Honeycutt won’t get much burn barring injury, and he is still very raw so I can’t say he will be better than anyone else in the league let alone the Lakers. Hickson is a good rebounder, and a decent inside player, but he doesn’t play much defense and he can’t help spread the floor, while JT is only a decent defender, sporadic post player, and decent jump shooter and rebounder.
Verdict: Lakers-And its not close. The Lakers’ actual rotational players are more talented and play bigger roles than those of the Kings inconsistent bunch.

Kings Centers: Demarcus Cousins, Hassan Whiteside
Lakers Centers: Andrew Bynum

Analysis: Bynum may be a punk, but he is a decent, albeit fragile, player. He is a good shotblocker and knows how to use his length on both sides of the ball. He’s not a star by any means, but he is one of the better centers in the league. Demarcus showed flashes of potential last year, but he also showed his inconsistency and inefficiency as well. Whiteside didn’t do anything last year, and I don’t think he will do much this year as well as he is still too raw to have any consistent impact on this team.

Verdict: Draw-This is a case of solid and unimpressive vs. potential and flash. If Demarcus, and even Whiteside, can make solid leaps this year than I can give it to the Kings, but as of now its a wash.

Final Verdict: Lakers Talent>Kings Talent-Kings are riddled with potential that has yet to be tapped, while the Lakers are a proven commodity. There is a reason they won two straight championships and it wasn’t entirely on the refs. They won because they had superior teams. The Kings have a chance to be great if both cornerstones fulfill their potential, and they get solid to great roleplayers (i.e. Thornton, Dalembert, among others), but as of today, and most likely this season, the Lakers are better.

NOTE: I am, in fact, a huge Kings fan and I despise the Lakers with a great passion, but I also have to recognize when someone is better, and that we still have to improve. I want to be positive and I’d love to have a better team than LA, but we are a ways from there still, let’s just focus on the season, take one team at a time, and judge the team along the way them revisit this argument afterwards. I’m not saying we can’t beat them, but as overall teams go, they are better.