Basketball pundit Jerry Reynolds stated in the third quarter of last night's game that the Kings were playing at championship level. Really? Most NBA teams have at least one go-to guy who can take charge and get the momentum going. The Kings have no such person. Mike Bibby did well until the Cavs took notice of him and shut him down. Martin continues to hang out at the back line looking for his shot. Miller gets frustrated. Lets face it, cellar dwellers seldom beat division leaders. I wonder what effect it would have to start Taylor in the power forward position. It sure couldn't be any worse.

This team is what it is.  Until Petrie pulls the trigger we are stuck watching bad hoops.  I find myself not even having much desire to tune in on game night which hasnt happened since 97'-98' back when irrelavance was what this franchise stood for.  I still have confidence that Petrie will make some moves but the guy operates at glacier speed which is good if you are trying to build a winner on kneejerk, panic moves by other GM's but excruciating if your a loyal fan despairate for hope.  I still say our best lineup is to start Artest at power forward with Salmons at the small forward spot and bench both Reef and K9.  If you are going to get hammered with your "power forwards" in the game then hell you wont miss them nailed to the bench.  Besides, Reef is better of the bench giving you some scoring against 2nd string guys.  One last thing, most people rave about how the Kings duped the Sixers by dumping Webber on them but at least Webber comes off the Sixers cap next year.  We are stuck with the Kenny "the human lowlight film" Thomas for the next 3+ years.  He comes off the books in 2009/2010 for goodness sake!

Oh yeah 3+ years at over $30 million for KT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think Carmichael Dave nailed it for me when he stated that he did not mind losing so much but it is the way they are losing.

We look really good at times. Just enough to keep us all on the edge of hope. Then the team goes Jekyl and Hyde out of nowhere. We KNOW they can play well - we just saw them do it! If they never played like they did in the first half, which was solid and dominating, we would simply think they did the best they can and respect their effort. What the heck happens to suddenly make the team, not one but a majority, totally and completely fall apart?

From the Bee: "We went away from team ball and did one-on-one," said forward Shareef Abdur-Rahim, who started in place of Thomas. "In a sense, it's sad. These last three games, we've played almost more than 3 1/2 quarters and almost a full game, but then we play terrible. It's a tale of two teams."

It isn't sad. It is down right depressing and as a result we are all looking for whom to blame like freaking Katrina just hit. Personally, I think it all starts at the clipboard and the leaders. It doesn't take long to see that there is a problem like abandoning team ball. There should be some barking and adjustments made to stop these swings while they are happening. To me, the team is what it is and the coaching staff is totally dropping the ball and unprepared to stop the raging waters.

Sorry to be so out of my usual Pollyanna "we can come back!" mode but this last game finally got to me.