From the FanPosts with minor edits. Awesome work. -- TZ

With the Sacramento Kings visiting the East Coast on their upcoming road trip this week and having the knowledge that most of those readers of StR are not from that area of the country I felt a glossary of terms would be helpful in adding to the flavor of the visit to the self proclaimed home of NBA basketball, NYC. Add these couple of dozen terms to your lexicon:

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Since we are now officially about two months into the new season, and the last one was a gas, I thought it was a good time to bring back this baby for this week. Since next month is the deadline, I will start things off with a deal that is truly, truly asinine, and has about as much chance of happening as a sequel to "Gigli".

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Hope-the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best (as defined by dictionary.com). So I have chosen to relate this word to the Sacramento Kings. Why do I still have hope? After nights like tonight, I often wonder the same thing. Am I a complete moron for expecting this team to all of the sudden make the playoffs and build a new arena? Maybe so. I guess the more logical reason would be that I'm a diehard fan. I choose to overlook all of the negatives and improbabilities and focus on the possibilities of what could be. I'm a glass half-full person, one might say. Regardless, I still support this team they call the Sacramento Kings that play at an outdated arena formally by the name of Arco. The "Arco Thunder" was evident against the Oklahoma City on Thursday night. "If that game didn't give anyone hope for the future, you don't like Kings basketball! OOOOOOOOHHHH BOY!". After a win like that, it is easy to say that life is good in Sacramento and the Kings are an up and coming team. That isn't the reality of it at all, as we saw tonight.

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It was in the fourth quarter, down to the final seconds of the game, with the Sacramento Kings leading the Oklahoma City Thunder by two points, when Tyreke Evans ran across the court to his teammate DeMarcus Cousins to create this micromoment in time. This moment, which expresses so much, which arouses feelings in the people who look at it, tells a story.

It all happened so quickly, Tyreke seeking out Cousins. Had it not been for the camera which captured the moment, it might have gone by virtually unnoticed, unwitnessed even by those in attendance. In this brief snapshot, so much is expressed between these two men, in a time of emotional excitement and tension in an arena filled with charged electrical energy with screaming fans cheering on a team on the verge of victory.

We cannot escape the love and respect that is expressed between these two teammates, who are sharing an emotional peak experience together. Do I dare say tenderness? Who cannot feel emotion when looking at this photo? It tugs at your heart. It is a step along a path, a journey, which we are witness to. A burgeoning relationship between two young men, who were coached by Coach Calipari at their respective colleges of Memphis and Kentucky. As fans, we are outsiders, only getting glimpses into the lives of our players. We are voyeurs, wanting to be a part of the whole experience. Players develop their own bond with each other. They have to get along with each other, weather the disappointments of defeat and share the glory of victory. They have to work together to be successful. They have to grow together as a unit; be strong, be vulnerable, and be open to the moment. They shared a bit of themselves, in the emotion of the moment, captured for a micromoment in time.

via i43.tinypic.com

via media.sacbee.com

Update - Video of game added:

Update: I have added the video of the Kings and Thunder with a breakdown of events which occurred immediately before the micromoment: * 49.4 Seconds - Russell Westbrook steps out-of-bounds for a turnover * 39.2 Seconds - Tyreke drives down center of paint, gets fouled, gets FTs * 32.5 Seconds - Durant launches 3-point attempt, with Tyreke defending him * 32.2 Seconds - Shot misses * 31.1 Seconds - Cousins looking at ball at rim moving toward it * 30.6 Seconds - Westbrook jumps trying to get rebound * 28.1 Seconds - Cousins gets possession of rebound

* 27.4 Seconds - Westbrook comes up behind Cousins to foul him Clock is stopped * 24.4 Seconds - Tyreke witnesses this and immediately runs toward Cousins * 24.4 Seconds - Tyreke reaches his teammate to connect with him

Amazing: It all happened so quickly, one can only ponder what was going through Tyreke's mind and what was going through Cousin's in the moment.

I became a Sacramento Kings fan after the Jordan era Chicago Bulls Team. After Chicago announced that they will blow up the team after back to back to back Championship, I was dissappointed because they were gonna be a rebuilding team, back then I didn't know what to expect. I am really spoiled watching the Bulls win Championship after Championship. After a while I found myself not really following the NBA , yes maybe once in a while I watched a game but I am not following any team at all. And then one day in 1998, bored and just wanna see something that i really missed, I tuned in to a game, I believe it was New Jersey Nets vs Sacramento Kings. I was amazed by how unselfish the Kings were playing, the crisp passes, I mean its unbelievable, its like watching harlem globetrotters at that time (well, maybe thats just how i feel). At that time I didnt know that I was beginning to like the Kings. I didnt know that I was slowly being one of their fan. I watched them again on TV and I was cheering them already. The fondness grows and everytime i have a chance to watch them, I was growing with them as a fan. Before, its hard to follow the team because we can't even afford to buy a desktop computer. Cable television is not really broadcast Kings game in my country until the glory years of the team. But that didn't stop me from being a fan. As time goes on, the technology and all of that, helps me follow this team. Although unfortunately, I never got a chance to see the Kings play live ballgame, every chance I have on our current Cable TV broadcast like the TNT game, I savor every moment like that in our small house here in Guam. Last year I record the game on TV as my memory game of the Kings and Denver, in which the Kings won by a blowout (Nice!!!) That's why I envy all of you because most of you are from Sacramento and a Kings fan, that have every chance to watch and see them live. That's my longtime dream, to see a Kings game live. I wish one day, I can fulfill my dream of watching a game with all of you guys here in STR, with my 6 year old son (who ask me one time on why I always watch Kings highlights and cheer when they win and have a sad look when they lose). And my only answer to him was Son, I really like this team and happy to be one of their FAN. This video I found is for all of you Kings FAn's.

The big momentum changers IMO for the Kings were 7:37 in the third salmons steals the ball from Durant runs down to the Thompson dunk, Kings followed it up with a Cousins charge@7:25. Biggest momentum changer of the game was 3:48 in the fourth, Cousins gets the charge called on Westbrook and then it's pretty much ALLLLLL Kings.... The last 40 seconds however, is ALL Sacramento, not the Kings... Actually Sacramento, the fan base that Sacramento has in them that use to be there when they were shitty... The fan base that has 11 consecutive years of sell outs, it all came through on TNT. There wasn't a single announcer/commentator on that broadcast that said it would not be anything short but a "travesty" if Sacramento lost their team, ALL of them said it was because of the fan loyalty. ..

That being said, I remember back in the early 90's when we were complacent and happy with 30 win seasons, we as Sacramentians were just stoked that there was a professional sports team in our city. I still have no idea why that desire has stopped... WTF else is there in Sacramento? The Rivercats(AAA ball!)? The town has nothing. They lost the Sacramento Knights/Monarchs(the only other professional sports team in Sacramento). We were spoiled with the 2000+ Kings, we got greedy. The true fans were still there that could afford it stuck around, however, it ended up being overwhelmed by the fair weather fans, which at the end of the day was great and we all still enjoyed it....

The problem was, the quality product did not stick around, in fact just 3 year later, Webber's knee gave out. It hurt then, but it ended up being the decline of the franchise, Shortly after the product was doing nothing but declining the ticket prices were not. The original fans who were stoked for 30 win season in the early 90's, could no longer afford the games... The fair weather fans... no longer wanted to spend the money on the team... Shortly after that we were left with which was once considered the best GM in the league allowed to do whatever he wanted, was depending on draft picks and trades that don't net a higher overall team salary...

It's hard to sit here as a Kings fan to demand you to cheer for this team because of all that has happened in the last 4+ years, but ownership is temporary, gm's are temporary, players are temporary, however having a team in your town is a blessing. It has brought on some of the greatest memories in your lifetime, your childs life time and possibly your grandkids life time. Trust me, these memories are priceless...

I am a Sacramento Kings product. I was born basically the year they moved here, so I would never know about the Johnson/Theus/Woodson/Thompson era. No I know the Richmond, Williams, Webb, Causwell and company era... I remember turning to my father one day in the Mc Donalds drive-thru and asking him, "Do you think we can win 30 games this year?", the response, "maybe! It looks like we have a chance!" I was stoked!!! of his response.... We didn't win 30 games that year, I think we finished with 28...

Back then the thought of a championship never crossed my mind. It wasn't about that... It was more than just basketball. Basketball was the catalyst, but the product our family was buying was the companionship that nothing but sports could bring in. What did I hope for growing up? Moments like this....

My greatest moments as a child...?

Favorite number has always been 2. My free-throw stroke will always and always has been his exact rhythm at the line


I'd never even imagine of highs like this...

or even the lows like this....

And yes, even moments like this...

As harsh as the image of Horry is to us, none of it happens without the Kings.

I'll admit, I'm selfish, I don't need to think about the 300+ other venues that could reside in the new entertainment and sports complex and the hundreds of millions of dollars those venues can contribute to the city. I'm admitting my selflessness and saying that it is the pricless memories the family and I have gone through with this team since they've moved to Sacramento that I am fighting for. There is nothing and will never be nothign in the Sacramento community that the hundreds of thousands of kids, just like me, who are growing up here now will experience, like I did as a kid, if we lose this team.

Sign,
-Heuristic...

Grant Napear annoys me just as much as the next guy and gal, but he had every right to rip TNT for their irresponsibility last night. And, I'm sorry, but I was over Chris Webber's act 6 or 7 years ago, so forgive me for not wanting to relive the drama that follows him everywhere he goes. When has he *ever* been held accountable for his actions? Every time he does, he somehow twists things around and becomes the victim. The resolution to the b.s. from yesterday is to acknowledge your error and apologize. How hard is that? The only kind of person that can't make amends is a coward, and that is exactly what Chris Webber and the rest of the TNT broadcasting crew exuded: cowardice.

Again, I will be the last person in the world to blindly defend Grant Napear, but Chris Webber can now officially exit stage left. Go away.

Did anyone else catch how TNT's telecast had the facts all wrong on the Entertainment and Sports Complex last night? Lost in all the excitement of the game was the fact that they made several statements about the Kings leaving.

I appreciate that the announcers all expressing how it would be travesty if they left, but Webber and Miller both made it sound as if leaving was a foregone conclusion. It sounded as if they had misinterpreted the city council's 5-4 vote on the parking as a deal killer.

Peaches called CWebb about it today on his show, and Webber apparently got mad and hung up on him. I didn't hear the conversation, but I tuned in a little later and had to chuckle, listening to him hypervenilate about getting hung up on.

Anyone else hear the telecast or Grant's show?

Excuse me if a fanpost isn't the right medium for this, but I just want to get a discussion going on whether we still need a pass-first point guard.

I am of the opinion that we do. I still believe that Thornton is best served coming off the bench, and being part of the closing lineup. So I believe that would mean Tyreke moving to the 2.

So how would we get a PG? Who is available? Who would you give up?

Also, is a productive small forward higher priority?

This next year's draft is supposed to be lacking PGs. Does that mean we have to trade for one? The only one that I can think of that is available is Ramon Sessions. I do not know a ton about him, but I believe he is at least considered decent.

So let me hear your thoughts. Go Kings!

What a game last night. I really wish I could've been there to witness the game and the energy of that crowd. Just by watching the game on TV it was exactly what I expected to see. The reason I'm writing this FanPost is because I'm a little irritated by what I was hearing by not only the announcers during the game (excluding C-Web) but mostly from the cast of the post game show.

Let's get this straight. The Sacramento Kings won last night against the OKC Thunder which still have the best record in the NBA after the loss. The Kings have been known for the past couple of years as a losing team and I'm pretty sure that we all agree with that. But last night the Kings and their fans came out and represented. Myself as a Kings fan watched the whole game on TNT and was wearing all black on my couch. I was happy with the outcome of the game until the post game show started.

The crew of the post game show talked about the Kings - Thunder game first but what happens? The Kings win and get no credit for the win.

Here's what Shaq had to say: "The question that I would like to ask were they fired up because they were playing a younger better team or were they fired up because they were on TV? Another question I would like to ask can they continue to play like that?

Here's what Kenny had to say: "My answers professor are no, no and no. I just think that this was an opportunity on National television....."

Here's what Charles had to say: "Every player know when they playing on National television......you get pumped for that"

Did I mention that the whole Kings - Thunder segment only last about 3-4 minutes and then after that they focused almost double that on the Lakers? I understand that it's the Lakers but there were 2 games on TNT last night and they should focus on both of them equally.

Seriously? The Kings win and this is all they had to say? If the Thunder would've won it would've been completely different. They would have given the Thunder high praise for winning and keeping a 3 game winning streak. But since it's the Kings, we get crapped on for taking down the best team record wise in the league. We don't get National TV appearances like the big markets or hot teams do and that is what I hate most about the NBA. Every team should have their shine more than once in a NBA season. Shaq, Kenny and Charles are speaking blindly when it comes to the Kings. I bet they don't even watch a Kings game unless it has some kind of elite team involved against them. All their talk comes from the papers in front of them with the only information of stats and standings.

I know the Kings are not a good team, yet. They want to be a good team and possibly a playoff team and that has been showing these past couple of weeks. The Kings that have gone 4 of 5 (including last night) and have been playing a lot better as of late. I truly believe that they are finding themselves with Coach Smart. Smart is bringing these players together and it's showing on the court.

Sorry for this all over the place post but I've been irritated since last night and just needed to vent to my fellow Sacramento Kings fans. Anybody feel the same? Would love to hear your thoughts.

GO KINGS!