Out of respect for our Northern California brethren, we haven't over-analyzed Saturday's 119-96 beating of the Golden State Warriors, but to be honest, it was a thrashing. The Kings bottled up all the frustration that had accumulated in two early season losses to the GSW hoops squad, and exploded.
The team was eerily good in the 1st half, jumping out to a 74-43 lead, and playing a significant role in the pounding was the team's bench, particularly the Kings first-round pick Quincy Douby, who threw down for 16 points in the second quarter alone, and finished the game with 21, a (short) career high.
With Artest seeing limited playing time for various physical and mental ailments, and Kenny Thomas battling the flu, Douby has seen increased minutes of late, at the expense of fellow bench-warmer Ronnie Price. But can we look at one game and say Douby has broken out and broken through?
The Associated Press certainly thinks so:
"When the crowd was chanting my name I felt like I was back at Rutgers University because I was one of the big men there," said Douby, who entered the game with a total of 23 points.
Further analysis of the boxscore shows important details. Douby scored his 21 points on a robust 9 for 13 shooting night, also contributing 3 steals and 5 boards, and 0 fouls. In comparison, fellow pinerider Francisco Garcia scored 13 on 4 for 15 shooting, and racked up 6 personal fouls.
It's no secret all season that the Kings have struggled on keeping shooting percentages high and maintaining control of the game. If Douby can show Saturday was no fluke, a statistical outlier in a improbable blowout where the Warriors' J-Rich was injured, and that he can score consistently and not make rookie mistakes, we're in for a treat.
What does Sactown Royalty think? Did he break through? And if Douby gets more minutes, who sits?