When Reality Knocks Down Spirit, and Spirit Gets Back Up
by Ziller on Nov 22, 2009 8:25 AM PST
in Commentary
6 comments
As readers of this site know, I'm (often too) focused on results, numbers, production when it comes to basketball and the Kings. I'd rather have a Rashad McCants than a Mikki Moore, a D-League question mark than a Desmond Mason, a successful play rather than a smart but failed play. David Eckstein is a curse word in my household (for multiple reasons), and while basketball certainly has a (huge) spot for hustle, give me the player who can score 20 standing up over the frenetic scrapper who needs to dive around the floor to break 10.
Basically, I'm rather wary of assessing the non-concrete when it comes to analyzing the sport and this team.
But there's no possible way to discount how spirited, how utterly driven this team has been. It hasn't been just in the face of adversity -- in the New Orleans, Memphis and Atlanta games, before Kevin Martin's surgical departure, the team showed remarkable backbone. It's an institutional attribute at this point, made ever more apparent with each game. Every single player on the roster has shown it, even the punching bags of the past. The Kings just went 0-2 on a road back-to-back, but took their pound of flesh from each opponent. This team hasn't quit, and it won't quit.
It's almost gotten to the point where we should seriously stop comparing this team to the one we watched a year ago.
6 comments | 1 recs |
Rivercats' Art Savage Dead At 58
Not Kings related, but if you are a fan of sports in Sacramento, you know how much of a loss this is. Condolences to the Savage family - Art Savage will be missed.
Post-Game Thread: Rockets 113, Kings 106
by Ziller on Nov 21, 2009 7:59 PM PST
544 comments
544 comments | 0 recs
Open Game Thread II: Kings at Rockets
by Ziller on Nov 21, 2009 6:30 PM PST
405 comments
This is the thread to use beginning at 6:30 PM.
405 comments | 0 recs
Open Game Thread: Kings at Rockets
by Ziller on Nov 21, 2009 5:30 PM PST
in Game Threads
328 comments
Go Kings.
(Game Thread II at 6:30, post-game thread at 8:15.)
328 comments | 0 recs
Mavericks Vanquish Kings 104-102
by Ziller on Nov 21, 2009 4:00 AM PST
in Recaps
46 comments
This was the Mary, Queen of Scots of basketball games. The Mavericks were always in the executioner's role, always with the biggest weapon and the strategically superior position. But damn if they didn't have to hack at the Kings repeatedly to get the job done. "Put the kids to bed, Sally, the Kings are in town!"
Dallas ended up winning 104-102, though it was basically a three-possession game for the entirety of the fourth quarter. The Kings had the deficit at three points a couple times, but couldn't do enough to stop the Jasons Terry and Kidd. Sacramento ended up scoring 37 points in the fourth, a figure not terribly bloated by the foul party at game's end. But Dallas scored 36 of their own, cinching up the win.
Tyreke Evans was unbelievable, finishing with 29 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds. He actually threatened the triple-double mark the entire fourth, having hung on nine assists and seven rebounds until the final, superfluous play. That's how awesome Evans's floor game was through three quarters, while he made his biggest late-game contributions in the scoring ledger. 'Reke had 13 points on six FGAs in the fourth, including 10 in the last six minutes.
46 comments | 0 recs |
Post-Game Thread: Kings at Mavericks
by Ziller on Nov 20, 2009 8:15 PM PST
84 comments
84 comments | 0 recs
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