Sactown Royalty

Impressive!

Great post

But why did you wait until the next to last paragraph to finally mention Jimmer?

section214 - February 2, 2012 reply

Hey Jimmermanics!

fffindeed - February 2, 2012 reply

what a dumb ass

You see an elephant, you stay in the Range Rover. If you don’t have a Range Rover, you climb a tree. Do not mess with elephants, all kinds of dangerous.

wallywagon11 - February 2, 2012 reply

No kidding.

That guy looks like he´s hit by a truck.

rubenho - February 3, 2012 reply

So jumping on ones back and screaming "Fly Dumbo!! Fly!!!" probably isn't a good idea?

You know,

For every Jimmermaniac on this site, there are at least two relentless Jimmerbashers. Seriously, what did the guy do to you people, run over your dog?

It's the Tebow effect

Though Jimmer doesn’t have it as bad.

Jimmer is LDS

But I’ve never heard him mention Jesus in an interview. So it’s based on bigotry, not his behavior.

I don't think he was referring to the religious side

I think he means the hype of a successful college player with an unorthodox game, who had a huge legion of fans entering the draft. Had equally as many haters who predicted he would fail and look for any cracks in the veneer to jump on and criticize.

Most #10 picks don’t have their every game under the same microscope that Jimmer does.

Case in point: Spencer Hawes

There was a dearth of Spenceters when we took him at #10.

I was posting on a different board back then, but remember it well

Hey Guys

Look at some of the players taken ahead of Jimmer.
Bismack, Jonas (not in NBA yet), Kanter, Vesely, and Williams haven’t done much either. I believe we did alright with Jimmer and he will take some time to adapt.
Give him some time, he plays behind to great players in Reke and MT.

*two

I'm much more interested in how Knight and Walker fare over time

They look pretty good for rookies

but play tons of minutes, so getting the experience helps.

Oh, and Kawhi Leonard as well

I do think

I would rather have Beno + Kawhi than the Salmons/Jimmer. I am not certain, but I think.

I'm fine with the pick, though I would have preferred Leonard at #10

It’s not the pick of Jimmer, it’s the hysteria that surrounds him.

I picked up Leonard in my fantasy league a few weeks ago.

Then he shit the bed. Not sure what happened to him. I guess Jefferson came back.

And Fredette may still become the better player

I know as much about young talent as your average NBA GM, which is to say very, very little.

boredwiththeUSA - February 3, 2012 reply

Kanter and Williams look good

Yeah

Kanter has shown some glimpses of being a great rebounder one day. He is avg 5 boards in 14 min a game…pretty good.
Williams is terrible with the NBA 3 point shot and shoots 63% from the line…not very promising. He looks to be the biggest bust of the draft so far. If the #2 overall pick was avg 7.4 ppg……I would be pretty pissed.
At least Jimmer avgs 8.6 ppg..lol

F3RRi3R - February 4, 2012 reply

Yes,

I think people waaaay overrate the affect of Tebow’s religious views on the anti-Tebow sentiment. It was the unending, relentless hype.

But the Saturday Night Live skit on Tebow

is just not to be missed!

Agree with both points

There’s another common denominator as well, but I am going to slowly back away before stepping on a landmine.

Now this makes me laugh

markdog333 - February 3, 2012 reply

Yes, there is that

But also the fact that he mentions Jesus AT LEAST once within the first 10 seconds of any interview, the never ending tebowing, praying for kickers to miss, etc… I think many people – including people of faith, have a big problem with it.

lchristmas - February 3, 2012 via mobile reply

I don't give a crap about post game interviews

or his religious views, though I’m not certain why he has to announce his thanks to his Savior so publically.
My annoyance is that I don’t think he’s an NFL quarterback (yet?).

We’ve all seen this running QP phenomenom before, it works fine until the concussions and other injuries from getting repeatedly wacked by 280 lb guys build up.
No running QB has ever ever won in the end. The few that did eventually was because they learned to stay in the pocket most of the time.

I just laugh because

He plays for a team with a very good defense and strong running game and people want to credit him for being a “winner.” He just wins.

I laugh, because I feel like we run into an identical scenario every few years. Last time was Vince Young. Big hype our of Texas. Mediocre accuracy. Good, but not amazing runner. Came to a Titans team with a good D and strong running game. He had a couple of fourth quarter comebacks and his supporters claimed we should ignore his mediocre stats because he “just won games.”

Deja Vu

You've got to be able to throw the ball consistantly

He certainly won’t be the guy that makes that fact untrue, there are no exceptions to the rule in my view.

Agreed

I'm just happy he plays for the Broncos

The glee with which many alleged kings fans

Respond to any jimmer struggle or failure is really pathetic, and has long since jumped the shark over any rational retort to the so-called “jimmer pushers”

Kings win AND JIMMER DIDN’T EVEN TAKE OFF HIS LDSWEATS??? Must have been like Festivus morning today for these folks.

lchristmas - February 3, 2012 via mobile reply

Agreed

The extremists on either side of Jimmer are very, very annoying.

well. extremists of any type are very annoying.

boredwiththeUSA - February 3, 2012 reply

It's the hype

I live in Utah and the hype was over-the-top to say the least.
He was an exciting player in college, no doubt, and I think he’ll do well in the NBA. I’m glad the Kings drafted him.
But it was hard not to get annoyed when you heard the guy’s name all the time. There’d be three stories about him on the TV news every night.
Though he seems like a nice fellow, down to earth despite the hype.
It also doesn’t help that most BYU fans are more annoying than Laker fans. Watch a game with them and all you hear are, "That was a foul, that was a foul," all the damn game. Then, of course, the refs are against them because it is an LDS school.
Just play, dammit.
Utah Ute fans are annoying, too, in a different way. (So, I’m not being biased.)

Disagree

Not jimmer’s fault but I think hype raised expectations that he hasn’t been able to reach.
I think anything less than 20ppg and 40% from 3 would bring out the I told yo sores,

Ok I made up the word so-ers

But auto correct to sores ticks me off

LOL

Its all good. I got what you were saying

He's an anti-Semite.

Wait, that’s not right…

andy sims - February 2, 2012 reply

title shouldve said

Kings Win- But Jimmer gets Frst DNP of Season

Kingsfan916 - February 2, 2012 reply

More Like

Kings Win- As Jimmer wills to victory from bench

His powers are growing.

Someday he'll be an all star

Just got back from seeing that.

Pretty good, in a very non-traditional movie story arc kind of way.

Might end up seeing it tonight. What did you think? Worth seeing? Could it be a date movie?

Looked like a teenage thing to me

Surprisingly good.

It wasn’t high on the list of things I wanted to see, but I got asked on a date by a hot guy, so…

Seriously, though, the title comes from the fact that the main kid has decided to record his life with a video camera, and there are a couple of other video feeds that come into play, which was a lot less distracting than I thought it would be. And the video quality was very high. No Blair Witch type shaking camera.

The story was not a traditional movie story arc, in that there was really no other story arc other than the main one. No subplots to speak of at all. But the main characters were fairly compelling and the main story is well-developed. You never find out why this happened to those boys (trying not to throw in any spoilers here) but watching them figure out how to use their powers is in turns fun and scary.

SB was disappointed that one scene, shown briefly in the trailer, is not actually in the movie. I’ll leave it to you to figure out what was missing, but given the demographic on this site, chances are you’ll probably get it.

Thanks for the review. Sounds like my kind of movie actually.

Btw, had no idea what scene might be cut, until this:

but given the demographic on this site, chances are you’ll probably get it.

Now I still don’t remember the scene from the trailer, but can guess almost exactly what you must be referring to.

Does this mean that SB wasted his movie choice for nothing?

No, he still enjoyed the movie.

He just deplores false advertising. ;)

If you want the opposite saw Coriolanus last night

Interesting movie, basically took Shakespear and kept all the words, but updated to modern times (kind of like Romeo & Juliette was). Works in parts, really doesn’t work in others. But interesting film if you like those types of movies.

Seeing Shakespeare tonight.

A Winter’s Tale. Two sons in the play, one as an assistant director, daughter the official photographer.

Oh wow. Congrats. Where at?

I used to go with my parents to the Shakespeare Festival up in Ashland, Oregon every year.

If you like that kind of thing, worth getting Coriolanus when it comes out on DVD. Good, but not great film. But interesting take. And some amazing performances by Vanessa Redgrave and Brian Cox (character actor you will immediately recognize).

Just a school thing

But the son who is the assistant director is working at the school coaching the Shakespeare team and helping direct the play, and plans to major in theater arts.

Cedar City, about 3 hours south of us, holds a huge Shakespeare festival every year, and part of the festival is a competition for high school teams.

The other two boys who are in the play are in 6th and 8th grades, so not in HS yet. This is mostly just to get their feet wet and gauge interest. Our school (K-12 charter) is well-known in our area for our fine arts productions and teams.

Well congratulations and enjoy. Hope they put on a great show.

Plus, why the video of not-Jimmer making the play of the night that turned the game around?

Too lazy to edit it? FOR SHAME.

andy sims - February 2, 2012 reply

actually Andy I take that back

you are a hater!

mmarcum - February 2, 2012 reply

by the way

you wrote this in the game thread

I hear rumors he got into it with the coach.

Would love to hear where you heard these rumors.

wallywagon11 - February 2, 2012 reply

Some people earlier had mentioned

when jimmer was pulled last game him and the coach got into a little feud. Obviously rumors were false.

mmarcum - February 2, 2012 reply

okay

wallywagon11 - February 2, 2012 reply

Smart was totally pissed at him

I was at that game and Smart chewed him up and spit him out for not playing with confidence in the second half. You could hear him yelling it at him easily. Looked like he’d also had enough of Jimmer looking at the bench with that palms outstretched in the “what did I do wrong?” gesture. IT is turning it up. Jimmer doesn’t know how to play undersized physical D (yet). Even though he’s shooting 60% from three lately I don’t think Smart values that over the defensive lapses. He might be sitting a good while.

dethtruk - February 2, 2012 reply

Smart actually has a reputation for defense

Because he was in GS and has installed a real offense, it’s easy to think of him as an offensive coach. But Nelson originally brought him in as his “Defensive coordinator.” And defense is his forte. It’s a credit to him that he was able to do a pretty good job with a Warriors team that would be the opposite of the personnel he would have chosen (not that they are untalented, but offensively talented and defensively deficient).

It doesn’t seem like a surprise that Jimmer is going to have to show more on D to earn more time.

I understand sitting a player

For not playing the way the coach wants, or for underperforming. But if this were always the case with Smart, Salmons would have been benched the past two weeks, and occasionally Tyreke would get pulled for repeated I’m-gonna-dribble-out-the-shot-clock-and-chuck-one-up plays, or the ever-popular dribble-into-the-two-shot-blockers-in-the-paint-and-cough-it-up moves.

I think part of Jimmer not playing was the matchup

Our small-ball lineup had zero success against the Blazers in the other two meetings.

Jimmer shot well in the last matchup against Portland

And outside of Jamal Crawford, the rest of their guard rotation shot poorly. I didn’t get to watch much of that game though, so I can’t confirm how Jimmer played in the team defensive concept against them.

Still, you’d think between that performance and his recent hot streak, Smart could have wedged him in for a few minutes.

I think he wants Jimmer a little pissed

Sometimes that leads to more aggressive play which can equal confidant play.

Confidant play is what it’s all about for Jimmer right now.

THIS

Totally agree with this. Jimmer hasn’t been playing hungry or confident, and this feels like a move on Smart’s part to get Jimmer’s competitive juices flowing again so that he plays like the BYU Freddette instead of the Westphal-Kings Freddette.

EGKF - February 3, 2012 reply

Smart's not so smart

Well said League Pass Addict. The end of the fourth quarter was badly coached. With four fouls Cousins remains on the bench. And J.T. gets in with only two and a half minutes remaining. Dumb.

seeanew - February 3, 2012 reply

Not defending the Cousins side of it

but technically JT was playing great D late in 3rd and early 4th (at least before he got some time to breathe on the bench).

ah crap sorry didn't see where you were going with it

yeah JT was gassed when they finally took him out in the 4th (he played the whole 3rd and a chunk of the 4th). Was probably in too long.

He was playing hard too.

I thought he did a great job last nite, but he did need a breather.

We just say 'LPA'

Or Supreme Princess of the Interwebs.

I answer to either one.

I think we are talking about two different things

I am saying that Smart’s philosophy is defense first. Therefore, Jimmer’s D is going to be a concern and cost him playing time. GS fans were perplexed that Smart didn’t give Curry enough PT last year, also because of defensive issues.

What you are mentioning is benching a player for making a mistake. I don’t think Smart is the kind of coach who has players looking over their shoulder on every missed shot or mistake.

But he wants player on the court who can play defense. That’s his background. Most people just don’t realize this because he coached a very high powered offense in GS.

this was a joke btw.

what I saw and heard at the game wasn't a joke

and maybe there’s no “feud” per say, but Jimmer went from starting to DNP at light speed. Like I said above, Smart was visibly and audibly reprimanding him for acting like he didn’t know what he was doing wrong. Thomas plays with confidence and has littlest-guy-on-the-team-who-gets-the-most-amped-up-about-the-game syndrome. Smart needs that fire, not Jimmer’s puzzled glances. Thomas will take most his minutes until his shot cools off again.

dethtruk - February 3, 2012 reply

I don't have a problem with Coach sitting Jimmer

Personally, I think it had a lot more to do with match-ups tonight. I’d really hate to see more of PW’s you’re in my doghouse so you get to sit on the bench for a game. That’s a great way to kill a player’s confidence, and it didn’t work for PW. But like I said, I don’t think it had anything to do with an argument, and I think Jimmer will be playing against GS.

That being said, I was really ticked off by the last play. Dumb, dumb, coaching in my opinion. Get your hands team out there. All of your best F/T shooters. They got it to MT, but that might not have been the case.

If that's what's happening

At least it’s being handled in private. There was no calling out Jimmer in a press conference or memo, no big announcement that he would be benched to teach him a lesson. I’ve never had a problem with a coach benching or disciplining a player, but keep it in the house. If that’s what’s happening, I’m fine with it.

Honestly

I think MT was assuming he’d be fouled and he didn’t protect the ball enough. Which is dumb, because teams are trained to try for the steal first and the foul secondarily in a one possession game.

first thing I thought too

But that's something the coach should discuss in the timeout too

Especially with such a young team. When you just stand there waiting for the foul, you put yourself in a terrible position to be double-teamed, locked up, etc. There’s only so long a player can stand there holding the ball before someone manages to tie him up. He should move or pass as soon as he starts to see the DT coming. Which is why I wanted more FT shooters on the floor.

Agree

Did you see Marcus’ interview with Peaches and Jerry right after the game? He was pretty upset about it, and admitted to completely goofing up that sequence.

No

Stupid Broadband League Pass cuts off the second the game ends. Maybe to conserve space? Hate it!

What I found interesting

was that Thornton said in his post-game interview (which took place immediately after the buzzer) that he had to be stronger with the ball in that situation. During Smart’s presser about 10 minutes later, the coach said virtually the exact same thing. Player and coach on the same page? Amazing!

How about not letting the sideline

be used as another defender? How about wrapping both arms around the ball?

This

…and curling into the fetal position.

markdog333 - February 3, 2012 reply

Well,

Being stronger with the ball (being able to keep it from being stolen by brute force) is ok.

Being smarter with the ball (being able to keep it from being stolen by strategies that might include running more time off the clock to protect our lead) is better.

This will be a learning opportunity for these guys.

MT was kicking himself last night in his interview with Grant. It could have worked out beautifully, MT fouled, makes his FT’s end of story.

It could have been another end-of game disaster, watching the other team snag the win from us at the end.

Fortunately, we had the lead, Blazers missed two opportunities, and Kings’ players will have an opportunity to talk about this, review tape, and hopefully learn from it.

This.

I agree with you. I think he sat Jimmer out because of the match-ups. They needed some stops to their team making baskets on us. I think they did a pretty good job doing that. Jimmer would have been of little help in stopping them score.

Yep

I agree with you completely. I have’t seen anything from Smart yet to make me believe he has a “dog house.” And if he does, it better be for something more than a guy getting fired up in the heat of a game.

Agree.

He doesn’t have that dog-house mentality. Watching the GS players come up to Smart pre-game, they showed some real love for the guy.

I noticed this too

Watching the GS players come up to Smart pre-game, they showed some real love for the guy

I thought that was pretty meaningful.

outrider - February 3, 2012 reply

Plus

Salmons playing 15 minutes straight to start the game probably meant he could only go with IT or Jimmer, not both

Good point. He probably wasn't expecting Salmons to play this well.

And, IT played surprisingly well, against this team.

I’m surprised Grant isn’t asking Jerry, “How tall is this guy? We better check his ID.”

Nice!

sorry I was referring

to comment I made above about him being a hater as a joke.

Tsk, tsk

Bill2 - February 2, 2012 reply

Great effort on D tonite

closing out on players, getting a hand in the face of shooters. I loved the way JT played tonite.

MichaelMack - February 2, 2012 reply

The defense is definitely further ahead of the offense at this point

I’m actually enjoying watching the defensive rotation most of the time. It used to be miserable, now there is effort and a bit more understanding.

The offense is still a hot mess, and devolves into too much one-on-one (especially with Thornton back). You can also see quite often why Chuck hurts them on the offensive end of the ball – the team actually ran a few decent plays that got him wide open looks in the 15 to 18 foot range, but he wouldn’t pull the trigger. That’s where not having DeMarcus on the floor really hurts you.

Chuck does a bunch of little things on offense that help though

He moves the ball quickly and with purpose, and he’s definitely our best screen setter.

No doubt about it

I’d assume he’s a bit like Brad Miller – you don’t always see the production in the stats, but the offense runs much more efficiently with him in there.

I thought Chuck could hit that little mid-range jumper though – or is that not part of his arsenal? Is his injury preventing him from taking those shots?

Looking at Chuck's Hoopdata page

(Here for reference)

It looks like historically he almost never shoots unless he’s relatively close to the basket. He’s had trouble finishing this year compared to year’s past, and I think that has to do with rust and conditioning since he hasn’t had as much game time as other players, and missed most of training camp as well.

If only our guards knew how to use a good screen

(sigh)

Don't know if it was just him

But I counted at least 4-5 times (after I thought to start counting) where Chuck came out to set a screen for Evans and Evans took off in the opposite direction of the way Chuck was coming, not even letting him finish setting the screen. This was puzzling to me.

outrider - February 3, 2012 reply

IT and Marcus also didn't use them for anything

You’re right. they don’t seem to know how come sround a screen for an open look.

I’ve seen Jimmer do it a few times but Tyreke, Marcus, Isaiah?
Nope.

Not specifically from last nights game

but I noticed Evans does this as soon as the defender cheats towards the screen. It is usually pretty effective though – especially if the other defender is hedging out to show on the screen too.

markdog333 - February 3, 2012 reply

IT WAS LIKE

THEN JOHN SALMONS WAS LIKE

AND THEN MT WAS LIKE

1damutt - February 2, 2012 reply

AND KEITH SMART WAS LIKE

Is this from Game of Thrones?

I just finished the first book of that series.

Yes it is and i wish I had the talent to put IT face on this pic with a pic of Blake Griffin on the ground

Looks like I have a photoshop project after work...

May have to make it Wesley Matthews on the ground though.

Aykis16 If you could pull that off that would be EPIC!!!!

Here you go:

IT as The Imp (Tyrion Lannister)

So much win here. rec’d

gif of the week

Year

Beautiful.

The books are really good.

I've wandered away from fantasy

these last few years as so much of it seems rote, often silly formula stuff. I watched a few episodes though and it does seem to be interesting.

But mostly novels, both serious (recently went through the ‘Girl’ trilogy) and humourous (love me some Christopher Moore)
and I still read a lot of more or less straight sci-fi.

Definitely recommend the Song of Ice and Fire novels that the show is based on

Unlike any fantasy series I’ve ever read. It’s like the Sopranos but with an occasional dragon.

Recommend Carl Hiassen.

I’ll watch a little “Thrones” for the wimmen. Much prefer the new “Robin Hood.”

Hiassen sounds like he's in my current Moore groove

which should I read first?

Native Tongue and Nature Girl were both pretty good

Strip Tease was really good, if you’ve haven’t already seen the movie. I’d say Lucky You and Double Whammy are a little weak but most of them are good and very funny.

Have you read Wheel of Time?

Hard to get through at times because Jordan uses so much detail, but it’s the best series I’ve ever almost read all the way hahaha.

George RR Martin's Song of Fire and Ice Series are the best of the SF Fantasy genre I have read

Not as well written as Tolkien but with more intrique. (I have read and enjoyed Goodkind, Jordan, Sara Douglas, Donaldson, Erikson, Salvatore. I also like Orson Scott Card, Robert A. Heinlein, bleh on Herbert, Bradbury is good)

Good thing you aren’t a Tolkien follower. Frodo Cheesecake is worse.

Bilbo, too.

swoosh91 - February 3, 2012 reply

Smeagol

At least they can call their child “my precious” and smirk knowingly.

congradulations Casey

Thanks

He's faded a bit in my eyes

less interesting

Yeah

Kind of a conceit to write the same book from, what, four different perspectives?

And actually, he’s not writing much these days. He suffered a stroke a year or two ago.

Sorry to hear it

but his decline was well in the works some time ago in my eyes.
Maybe he just ran out of ideas, it happens.

bleh on the original Dune?!!!

+1

The Dresden files just get better and better as they go on

I enjoy the occasional Scalzi and McDevitt as well

How about Robert Jordan

(now deceased) or Brandon Sanderson? Sanderson is an amazing world builder. He took over the Wheel of Time series once Jordan died, but at least the series is being finished. I read the first eight, then decided to wait until the series was finished to read the rest.

But a lot of Sanderson’s other work (Elantris, etc.) is pretty good.

There's a whole Jordan discussion below

sonofabitch dead guy!

I know.

That’s why I didn’t finish the series. I took one look at his author photo and knew he was going to drop dead before he finished.

It’s hilarious, though, that Sanderson was chosen to finish the series. Jordan is wordy, Sanderson will bury you.

George RR Martin looks like a cardiac time bomb

I am suprised he came out with Feast of Crows and Dance with Dragons. He says he has two more to go but at the rate he puts them out (five years after his “due date”) his tombstone will be published first. (man, I can be so cruel – I blame StR)

He got the first three out pretty quickly

The last two apparently took forever (luckily I didn’t have to wait since I didn’t know about them until the show). But just judging from where the story is after the latest book, I don’t know how they’d be able to finish it up in 7. Maybe 8.

Thanks for the warning

Oh no!

Tony had eagerly read every book, was getting a little irritated that it wasn’t drawing to a climax (more charactors Jordan – SERIOUSLY?!)
and then died %@&(!

Yeah,

I stopped reading after the book that didn’t have Mat in it. Seriously, an entire book without one of the three main characters? Plus he was getting a little misogynistic for my taste.

I might go back and skim the first books and then pick up the series to finish, but right now, I just have kind of lost interest. And I have too many other books to read.

No kidding, how do you not write in Mat?

It was starting to look like he had numerous ex-wives to pay off. Many of the (many) women starting sounding too much alike as well, I was getting confused.

In fact, too many of all the charactors started using similar voices. And Mat was just too interesting to leave out.
Anyway, the whole story lost urgency.

I've stopped and started over on the series more than once

Last time I started it I timed it perfectly so that I finished The Gathering Storm about a month before Towers of Midnight came out. Honestly, I find the books with Sanderson much more refreshing reads.

First time I read the series I think I got halfway through the 3rd or 4th book before Jordan’s writing grated on me and I stopped for about a year. Picked them up from book one again and didn’t even make it as far that time. Third times a charm I guess, read all 13 books back to back starting about the time book 12 came out.

Which series or book of his is best if wanted a taste?

Only series of his I've read is Wheel of Time

And with that one, pretty much if you don’t start at book one (Eye of the World) you’ll be lost.

I just started Gathering storm

tonight

avishai - February 3, 2012 reply

Jordan started out more or less

by writing all those new(er) Conan books which I read thirty years ago.

I remember Edgar Rice Burroughs and Tarzan and John Carter of Mars

gulp, around 45 years ago

Read a lengthy profile about this Martin fellow

It kept mentioning how pissed-off some fans were about him taking so long to write the next book in the series. Martin had some pretty funny quotes about that.

Oh yeah

I’ll never forgive Jordan for dragging it out and extra book or two – until he freakin died on us before he finished.

lol

Won’t forgive him for it, but still have to buy the final book when it comes out. Feel obligated to finish after investing so much time in reading > 3,600,000 words.

Don't remind me!

It’s been so long I’ll have to read a LOT of it to refresh my memory. I’m feeling a little angry about that! :-)

I just recently dusted off the Pern stuff and reread a lot of them, very enjoyable.

Oh, that sounds fun

I don’t own any of them though, read a bunch of them in high school from the school library…

Also thoroughly enjoyed The Death Gate Cycle by Weis & Hickman. I’ve been meaning to re-read that. I have all 7 books lying around somewhere, but not sure where. I’ve moved like 5 times since the last time I read them.

I LOVE my Kindle

I wasn’t sure I would.

I wasn't sure about it at first either

but my wife bought me a Kindle Touch for Christmas and I’m loving it too. Only problem: I hate having to re-buy all of the books that I already own. WoT is a perfect example. Already invested 8-9 bucks apiece for the books (more for the last two which I bought in hardcover) and I’d like to re-read parts in advance of the final book, but I hate having to drag the books around with me, and I don’t want to pay another $8 for each of them on the Kindle.

Halfway through the second book, loving it so far.

heard how great the series was, wanted to read the books before I start watching it. For those of you who’ve seen it, and read the books, does the first season pretty much end about the same place the book does? Season 1 comes out on DVD/Blu-Ray in March, and I want to start watching as soon as it comes out.

I'm just in to the 2nd myself.

To answer simply. Yes.

I started reading the books after watching a few episodes of the show and loving it

It was kind of amazing how true they stayed to the book. There are very few deviations, and the ones that do exist are mainly to flesh out characters that don’t have much of an impact in the first book but will later.

My first gif file attempt

Nice!

Very nice.

Had to one up me with the "very" didn't you :)

John Salmons: you can't stop him, you can only hope to contain him

betweentheeyes - February 2, 2012 reply

LMAO

WOW the fish came to play tonight now lets see more of it

Mechanical Shift - February 3, 2012 reply

This is the best post ever.

ever.

Can't stop him?

chenp22 - February 3, 2012 reply

Like a Boss

b

I dated her

this is the must frustating gif ever

just a hint too blurry. Maddening.

I'm lovin' it!

I WISH I had dated her

win

bignerd - February 3, 2012 reply

I'm going to develop Jimmer withdrawals

youknowit100 - February 2, 2012 reply

[this comment has been censored due to adult content]

Kings fans...

Schnuppermeister - February 2, 2012 reply

i'm still celebrating with my buddies

You must be a congressional Democrat!

(watch that first step)

Good to get a little revenge against the Blazers,

they tore us up the last two times we played em. It was sure nice to have Salmons actually help out, amazing things happen when yur wing can contribute… Thornton was getting to the line tongiht which really helped out. Nice home win, let’s get another against the Hornets on Saturday.

I guess I'm wrong, we need to beat the dumb ass Dubs first...

We’ll be getting some more revenge then. The Kings are going to smash their asses!!

DiegoKing - February 3, 2012 reply

WOOP!

Everybody dance now!

kyleramos - February 3, 2012 reply

IT #9 on Plays of the Night

Should have been much, much higher.

This

SayWhat? - February 3, 2012 reply

He did get Block of the Night on NBA.com though

We have a Yeti sighting!

Bitgod - February 3, 2012 reply

I think tyreke deserves a lot of credit for the way he played today. You can clearly see he wasn’t having a good game and even on defense he wasn’t getting lucky with the steals and he looked very frustrated at times but he stuck it out and kept playing and even at the end had some terrible turnovers..but damn he came through at the end.

deucedeuce - February 3, 2012 reply

Tyreke needs to not fade away. Kudos to him for sticking with it, but what's interesting is -

Those halfcourt shots he takes? When he’s taken them, he’s not fading away at all. Straight up and down, even if he has forward momentum. Body line is relatively straight. Now, if he could apply that to his normal game…wow.

he leans when he is shooting off the dribble...when he spots up idk he does some different shit every time and it doesn't work

deucedeuce - February 3, 2012 reply

his stroke never looks the same..now compare that to MT's storke his looks so similar every time he shoots

deucedeuce - February 3, 2012 reply

That just means he is working on his shot.

I noticed on his spot up 3’s he was taking the ball slightly behind his head, but he was not fading.

Schnuppermeister - February 3, 2012 reply

My favorite line ... thanks for the laugh

Another big contributor for Sacramento tonight was John Salmons, who was clearly frustrated that he had been snubbed by the voters for a spot as an All-Star Starter.

FolsomAndy - February 3, 2012 reply

Marcus Thornton is a warrior.

Hes skilled, loyal, respectful, and knows when its appropriate to get excited. My favorite player in the NBA. If more players in the league were like Marcus, the sport of basketball would be better off.

CLopez63 - February 3, 2012 reply

i agree in the most points, but

from my point he is too selfish. he often drives to the rim and gets pressure from several guys in the opponent defense, but its too rare that he kicks the ball to free teammates, specially at the 3point-line. if he could improve that, he would be a stunning guy

Right.

Our last posession of the night, the ball was inbounded to him, and Thornton obviously wanted to get fouled and shoot the FTs himself, so instead of passing out of the double team, he got stripped, and that could have cost us the game.

Stupid and selfish.

Salmons was wide open about 15 feet away.

I still enjoyed the win, but I was shaking my head at that.

He made some nice passes to get guys some easy baskets, but you can tell he wants the ball in the 4th.

Crocoduck - February 3, 2012 via mobile reply

I don't think that was stupid or selfish

I think it was the game plan from listening to Smart: Get the ball into one of your best FT shooters, and wait to get fouled. Unfortunately, Marcus didn’t see Wallace coming until it was too late, and we got lucky there.

He should have passed out before the double team formed.

Or at least dribbled away from the sideline where he got trapped. Ideally, not only would they have had to foul, but we could have run more time off the clock.

I still think it was both, but I appreciate that you like Thornton a lot more than I do.

I agree he should have

This is a young team, very prone to mistakes. Marcus may have just gotten his big contract, but this is just his 3rd year in the league, and first full one as a major minutes guy. I think he was sticking to what the coach asked of him instead of adapting to the situation as he should have. That’s something to learn from.

A double team on the ball handler as the clock is running out?

How oh how could he have forseen that coming?

They should have used the full court and passed it into the backcourt in that situation. You should never imbound the ball just across halfcourt, it’s begging the other team to trap you.

shaydbrayd - February 3, 2012 reply

true and true,, but how about the alley-oop pass he made?? nice..very nice

gaindeyouth - February 3, 2012 reply

Jimmered. - February 3, 2012 reply

Getting old. Really old.

agreed

to the point of whenever I just see the username I’m annoyed

Yep

Credibility of Jimmered minus another three points and counting

Doesn’t matter what your or my beef is, if all you have is a one trick pony, the trick gets old fast. But I guess stick with it if that’s all you got.

Although it must have been killing you not to say Jimmer sucks last night

I don't know you, so I can't say that you're a douche

But an incredibly high percentage of your posts are extremely douchey.

Extremely douchey.

This made me laugh. Gonna start using the word douchey.

Schnuppermeister - February 3, 2012 reply

Did you post this to remind us how fast Jimmer is?

SharkKings49 - February 3, 2012 reply

Kings Win! Time for a pizza party!

Im Busy Gif - Im Busy

Normdog - February 3, 2012 reply

thats right, no time for arguing because

the next loss will come soon and then we can discuss and argue. but till then we should dance til’our souls are burning

My favorite play....

The JT “slip screen” and the bounce pass by Tyreke. I hope to see more of this.

getPGwithbounce - February 3, 2012 reply

I liked the one play in the first half

where JT threw a bounce pass between two defenders to a cutting DeMarcus Cousins for the layup.

yea that was my fav as well

Shizzo - February 3, 2012 reply

Get your Rob Lowe on!

Rickyflip - February 3, 2012 reply

Party's still going

Photobucket

Kings won, and it's Friday!

Time to dance!

kwlarson - February 3, 2012 reply

Kings win without Jimmer!!

Side note... I never got a response after they said they were looking in to why the banners are gone, but they are still gone

Thats Odd

Anyone have the answer?

I think the Maloofs sold them as their 2% is just not cutting it anymore

LOL

I was going to say – someone should check Ebay.

Their original response to the 6th man banner(which was on the other side)

Was that it was on display and should be back up soon(it’s not)

sent a tweet to @KingsVideo

They were the ones that responded to me when I pointed this out on Jan. 5th.

Kings In-House Video @KingsVideo
@HeuristicLineup Checking on the status of the other banners as well.

Kings In-House Video @KingsVideo
@HeuristicLineup Oversight on the 6th Man Banner; it was on display in the offseason … it will be back up soon.

What the hell...

We should mass tweet them. They can’t do that to us.

And... They responded

Kings In-House Video
@HeuristicLineup Changes to the position of projection lighting fixtures caused the banners to be removed; it was an oversight that

Kings In-House Video
@HeuristicLineup … They weren’t relocated. I’ve raised the issue; hopefully we can get them back up quickly.

I will be at the game Saturday so I will report back then on if they are back up or not. HeuristicLineup, getting our fucking banners back up since twenty twelve!!!

"We won't be putting the banner back up,

but please accept this coupon good for a free Jumbo Jack when you purchase a large beverage."

But I wanted a

Rec'd for just mentioning a jumbaco.

Is Jumbaco gonna be one of the New Insta-Rec items now like Doug TKOing Idiot

Lol. FWIW, my nickname for Kemba Walker is Kembaco

He’s on my fantasy team and it’s a lot of fun to shout when watching the games with friends.

He drains a three: Kembaco Kembaco Kembaco Kembaco

Oh man

I kind of wish we had drafted Kemba now just so we could have called him “Kembaco!”

Yeah,

Jimmerbaco just doesn’t have the same ring to it.

Jimbaco

Charlotte got the two best Jumbaco guys

Bismacko and Kembaco

Very true. Briefly had them both in fantasy.

In a deep league, so took a flier on Biyombo when he was getting some burn. Makes the games fun to watch and yell at the TV when they do well.

Rec’d this for getting me to actually LOL at work

I dont understand what this is

A jumbaco?

First you take the Jumbo Jack

Then you take the taco.

Jumbaco, Jumbaco!

Is this a real thing?

I need to google it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6KJcmo0w5U

N o it is not, it is from this commercial

Widowwolf - February 4, 2012 reply

It is the Maloofs who will be hanging in the rafters next.

bignerd - February 3, 2012 reply

i told yall bros dat salmons waz still good.....

yall amigos didnt believe me …..es em aych…….el oh el dats 4 those who kept doin dat to me el oh el…..jus sayin……but foreal dat waz a good game…..thornton is a beast but evans im still not sold on him…..duno tho…..

/kings 2 da top\

mitmil22 - February 3, 2012 reply

This is strangely mesmerizing.

Agreed

I rec’d it, but I’m not entirely sure how I feel about that.

Someone needs to edit this with the words

“Stop Fading Away Tyreke!”

Yeah, I just assumed this was a gif of Evans shooting a jumper

hahahahahahaaaa

Oh, very subtle

Nice

Is this what having a stroke looks like?

rmgordon4 - February 3, 2012 reply

You’re trying too hard to sound “cool”, so you just make no sense whatsoever.

Personally, I like your posts

I know some people get frustrated with the grammar (it does take a min to translate), but I appreciate seeing another team’s fan this passionate about the Kings. I’m looking at what you say, not how you say it. From what you say, it seems like you have a ton of love for this Kings even if the Kings aren’t your #1 team.

SharkKings49 - February 3, 2012 reply

Let me translate: I told all of you brotha's that Salmons was still good...

You didn’t believe me, friends….shaking my head. Laughing out loud that’s for those who kept doing that to me laughing out loud (What? Ah-Speaka de English properly, that doesn’t make any sense)…Just saying. But for real, that was a good game. Thornton is a beast, and I’m not sure what to make of Evans, I’m not completely sold on him yet.

Go Kings!

dats tha berney!!!!!!!

mitmil22 - February 3, 2012 reply

Lets Dance Friday after Kings WIn

GIFSoup" >

Took 15 Minutes

To figure out how to post the Gif

Aw man... Disco Inferno.

TrojanCBB - February 3, 2012 reply

A couple of quick things...

First, I do not, do not, do not understand why Cousins didn’t get on the floor for the last 20 minutes of the game. Arguably our most consistent big man, possibly our most consistent player, and you sit him why? So Hickson can get some burn? Really?

Second, you put in your best 3pt shooter against a zone.

Third, for all of the broadcast team’s vaunting Isaiah Thomas as “Mr. Fourth Quarter,” he had some pretty bad plays.

Tyreke, Salmons, and Thornton on the floor at the same time means that our bigs don’t touch the ball unless they rebound it.

I’ll take the W, but some of the coaching decisions and rotations were suspect.

Jimmer has gotten eaten up by the zone so far and it's not like Thornton and IT are shit

No, they're not.

But you at least try it. Give him a shot. However Jimmer landed in the doghouse with Smart (and that’s an entirely different issue) you still go with your best options to try to win the game.

you got to be shitting me

doghouse? one of best options?

no

First, stop swearing at me. That's twice in two posts.

Second, Jimmer is the best 3pt shooter on the team. To break a zone defense, you need to spread the floor with outside shooters. That would be Fredette. With the way Salmons was shooting last night, having the two of them on the court would have let Tyreke break down the zone from inside out.

Third, I didn’t see evidence of Smart chewing out Jimmer, but some people have mentioned it. Personally, I was too busy watching the game. But whatever personal issue the two of them had, it shouldn’t affect that kind of decision, in my opinion.

You think it was an obvious mistake to have played IT and Reke the minutes they got?

and if the disagreement was about how Jimmer was playing, why on earth should that not affect this kind of decision?

That's not what I said.

Not at all. But Jimmer is a better 3pt shooter than both. It seems like there could have been some zone-busting role for him.

I get that you don’t like Jimmer. But you have to give him credit for being a better outside shooter than Tyreke.

wow timeout

no you don’t get me at all if you are going to turn this into some stupid “Oh you just don’t like Jimmer” junk.

And yes I know that is not what you said. But if Jimmer struggles against the zone and the guy taking his spot at point isn’t dogging it, if the non three point threat in the backcourt isn’t dogging it, I dunno what the point is other then “well he’s the 10th pick.”

You say he struggles against the zone

But I haven’t seen that the past few games.

So we disagree on that. And I never said that he should play because he’s the tenth pick.

I personally am not one of the “Jimmermaniacs.” He’s a nice player, but I am strictly coming from a game situation standpoint. Which is exactly what I said in my original post.

You put in your best 3pt shooter against the zone. How is that even arguable?

well who is coming out LPA?

IT, Marcus, Reke, Salmons? And remember, IT only played around 15 minutes.

crap sorry

IT played 17.2 minutes

I did not see the game but from an offensive POV you are 100% correct

That leaves 3 choices
Smart is dumb
Smart thinks his D or bh was a bigger problem than losing his O
Smart and Jimmer had a disagreement and he sat him out

Isn't the first point a contradiction?

I’ll say it was the 2nd because personally I think it was the match ups. The only thing you can beat largeness with is speed. IT has that and Jimmer not so much. Its like rock paper scissors. Donte, Cisco, and Honeycutt also didn’t play, they must be in the doghouse too.

ThomasGQ - February 3, 2012 reply

I don't think it was a personal decision or anything

One thing that Smart has been very consistent about in this season is keeping a tight rotation. He likes to play his best guys a lot of minutes (must have learned that from Nellie). With Tyreke and Marcus playing 41 minutes, and Salmons having a good night and playing 38, that doesn’t leave many minutes for Jimmer if Isaiah has supplanted him in the rotation. Isaiah only got 17 minutes, and while he didn’t play phenomenally well or anything, he did a good job of running the team, even though he did make some silly mistakes (as I mentioned in the post).

Also, Coach Smart mentioned that he wanted to keep the rhythm of the game, which is why he stuck with those guys in the 4th quarter and didn’t try to bring in Cousins off the bench or anything. I don’t necessarily agree with that, for the point you mention about how DeMarcus is our most consistent player, and he did have 8 points and 6 boards in his 15 minutes.

yeah but Jimmer was the 10th pick

Which I'm sure is why people are questioning the move

Not because he’s actually our best 3pt shooter which we could have used at times last night. I’m not sweating it, but at times people act like anyone who mentions Jimmer must only care about seeing him play. Some Jimmer fans have been Kings fans back before Jimmer was born.

And some people who live in Utah

Turned down the Jimmer jersey in favor of a DMC one. In black. For my birthday.

Pretty sure you guys were on TV here

did anyone mention that?

No. Really?

That’s fun. Had I known I would have waved to you.

You guys looked a bit serious :-)

If it was you they showed the three or four of you several times, all in new black jerseys?

It wasn't us then.

SB’s jersey is white. One son got a white Casspi jersey in Hebrew (Casspi was his favorite king, got the Hebrew just to be cool), and one son wanted a video game instead.

And we’re almost never serious.

Good, that group looked a little grim

(I edited myself) for such a close competetive game.

I think they showed you guys as well though.

I'll have to go back and look.

We haven’t watched the archived game yet.

Other than the TO where IT lost it in the corner

I was ok with his play in the 4th. He missed a couple good looks, but it’s better than our 23 second shot clock prayers.

Completely agree on the zone thing. I saw a lot of open looks and was wondering why jimmer wasn’t in. They did an ok job getting the ball to the middle, but I think the zone bothered them more than it should’ve.

The only explanation I could think of for DMC sitting was than Hayes was playing good defense on LMA and rotates better. He was still giving up some offensive rebounds, and there were a few plays that DMC would’ve finished that Hayes missed. As much as Portland likes to go to LMA at crunch time I was ok with leaving Hayes in.

Crocoduck - February 3, 2012 via mobile reply

Cousins is disinterested, Jimmer is still learning D.

Smart played the guys who get the most fired up and put in the most effort on defense and got the W. A win against a team that throttled them before seems to imply he made some okay decisions, right?

dethtruk - February 3, 2012 reply

Cousins is disinterested?

If he was being “fired up” and emotional, people would still be waving red flags in his face. He’s been a model citizen since PW left, he’s playing well and he’s playing under control. That doesn’t make him disinterested, it makes him smart.

And I get that Jimmer is still learning D, but he can shoot. Certainly better than Outlaw, who did somehow make it off the bench.

Agree with you LPA

I don’t think Cousins is disinterested. He’s toning down his emotions. A couple of those foul calls were very iffy and last year I’m sure he would’ve picked up a technical. He was frustrated, but he didn’t boil over. Smart didn’t bring him back because Hayes, JT, and JJ were playing better. And DMC would be the first to tell you that the most important thing is the W.

Disagree that Hickson was playing better.

As do I,

but for one game- and a win, I’m giving him a pass. When DMC gets frustrated he may be backsliding attitude-wise and that may be the answer, Smart wanted to keep a positive vibe on the court and teach a small lesson.
But as of today the only almost certainfuture All-Star I see on our team is Cousins.

Yeah, I don't think anyone can make the claim DeMarcus is disinterested

If anything he’s the opposite to a fault.

He's definitely interested in getting his 20 and 10. No doubt about that.

dethtruk - February 3, 2012 reply

Wow

That is a untenable comment

http://www.youtube.com/user/kingsflix

There's nothing wrong with not liking a player

But before you drop a quote like that about DMC, please do yourself a favor and spend a few minutes watching his post-game interviews from the seven games we’ve won this season. I’ll even provide a handy link for you.

All he cares about is winning and he’s made it more than clear on several occasions this season that he cares about this squad and wants to be here. I don’t know what kind of glasses prevent you from seeing any of this, but for God’s sake, please don’t drive or operate heavy machinery while wearing them.

Olde Greg - February 3, 2012 reply

Pretty sure Outlaw got in

because Cousins was in foul trouble.

Even if Cousins is disinterested

He’s going to probably give you 20 and 12. And his presence on the floor opens things up a bit more for the backcourt and gives your offense some additional options.

Dude should have been in there.

Some cool stats

DeMarcus is one of only 11 players in the NBA averaging a double-double. He’s also the youngest player on that list at just 21 years old, and is also playing the fewest minutes per game of anyone on that list at 28.5.

Link

BEAST MODE:

ENGAGED

Wrong.

Six of those guys are on teams that won’t make the playoffs. Hence, they’re merely trying to pad their own stats.

Right dethtruk?

Speaking of guys who won't make the playoffs

Marcin Gortat is a stud. I wish we had been able to pull a deal for him somehow when he was available from Orlando. He’d be perfect next to DeMarcus. I don’t see Phoenix getting rid of him any time soon though.

Unfortunately

neither will his fantasy owner in my league.

I wonder how many of his baskets are assisted

If Cousins was shooting 56% he’d be averaging 20 and 12!

47.4% of his buckets are assisted

That’s a huge improvement from last year, where he was only at 37.6%. This means he’s being set up more and having to create less, which is a good thing as you can see from his increased efficiency and less turnovers.

Only one thing I'm a little dissappointed on with Cousins this year

is so few assists. Otherwise I think he’s having a rockin’ 2nd Sophomore year.

Hmm, but Gortat’s % is about the same as last year(?) so . . .

Anyway, if you remember I was big on trying to make a trade for him. But should the Kings look for more of a 4 who spreads the floor a bit – or a Gortat that you can outmuscle everyone with?

I think Cousins is good enough of a jump shooter that you don't need another guy like that

I’d rather have someone athletic that can defend, rebound and finish. Hayes can defend and rebound, but he’s not a good scorer. JT is getting better in all three of those areas, but he’s probably a bench big on a good team.

And yes, I remember when I was clamoring for Gortat you were a big supporter there. He’s a nice player. I think he’d fit in well with Cousins. I don’t think he’s available at all though anymore.

I thought for the most part

That was JT’s best game of the season. Nice job on the boards, shooting 5-7, had a nice cut to the basket, a great pass for an easy lay-up, and was playing very physical defense. Very good all around performance.

Agree on the passing

This seems to have been intentional early with Smart. He seemed to get Cousins focused on getting his tail down low and scoring. Have noticed as more of the offense has been implemented, we’re seeing more high post from Cousins and more passing.

Hopefully we can utilize it more going forward, because he has great touch for a big man.

Maybe Smart just doesn't want to develop that part of his game right now.

We have enough turnovers already.

wow..

kings just got a grab win over a good team and you guys are still arguing back and forth about….jimmer? rookie? and his minutes. who cares. they won. enjoy it, you never know when the next blow out is coming right around the corner..

gaindeyouth - February 3, 2012 reply

Who cares?

I guess some of the rest of us do. If you don’t, don’t worry about it?

sorry, didn’t realize it was a closed thread with only otis allowed to pick who types in. personally, i enjoyed a nice win. jimmer will get his minutes. he gonna be alright, and i’m sure he enjoyed the win as much as i did.

gaindeyouth - February 3, 2012 reply

Oh, sorry

I thought you were trying to close the thread to certain types of conversations. I must have misunderstood.

I hope Jimmer didn't enjoy it as much

I hope Jimmer went to sleep and with the thought of a DNP in an exciting win leaving a big, annoying pit in his stomach. And as he wonders why, visions of backing stupidly into picks, seeing his man get TWO steps on him, and Coach on the sideline with FACEPALM. That’s what I want Jimmer to feel after this game. And I love the Jimmer.

AoxomoxoA - February 3, 2012 reply

As I've said, he needs to get and stay aggressive

and do the things he does well, take open 3’s and stop and pop from 15 feet.

With confidence.

Does he really stop and pop well from 15 feet? Because frankly, I’ve never seen it. That said, he really needs to add that to his game.

shaydbrayd - February 3, 2012 reply

Not quite the Beno shot,

but he has that move where he drives in and then steps back and hits the jumper. Seems to hit it pretty consistently. Not sure if it’s 15 feet, but I’m guessing that is what LTG is referring to.

yep, I just picked a mid distance

He should watch Beno’s tape because he has a lot more talent.

Ya, I think Smart said he didnt put back Cousins because he wanted to keep the guys on the floor that were playing well.

Didnt want to mess up the rhythm or kill momentum with a rotation change.

I can see leaving in Hayes, but Hickson?

Cousins is better than him every single time. Every. Single. Time.

But JT came in for Hickson at the end.

and DMC was in foul trouble all night, so he couldn’t play aggressive defense.

Hickson actually didn’t look lost out there tonight, and Outlaw played aggressive. Smart gambled by keeping them in, and it worked.

Gambling

greeeeat. :-)

Right. That's what he said in his post-game interview.

He didn’t want to mess with the flow of the game; didn’t want to put someone in who was cold over guys who had the rhythm. Possible regret over putting Jimmer in at the end of Utah’s game after he had been sitting on the bench.

Sounds Zen-like.

Hickson has done nothing, not one thing

that justifies getting minutes over Cousins. The only argument you could possibly make is his ability to get back down the floor faster – but when he gets there?

Don't disagree with you about Hickson.

It may not justify why Smart played him over Cousins, Smart just didn’t want to mess with it. I’m just going off what he said last night.

I agree

This is a rebuilding team with no playoff aspirations whatsoever, you don’t sit the 10th pick of the draft when you desperately need him to get better, I don’t care what the matchups are. But the thing is, the matchups weren’t that unfavorable. Jimmer couldn’t guard Wesley Matthews like he did Dorell Wright the other night? You don’t want Jimmer against a zone? I don’t understand it at all.

I will say I can understand JT/Hayes down the stretch because that combo worked defensively, but even still I think you give Cousins the crunchtime minutes.

And now Outlaw is the backup SF? WTF? How?

You can say you can’t argue with a W, but I don’t know – I don’t really understand what Smart is doing.

Exactly this.

Rec’d.

ah

so you have to play him every game because he’s the 10th pick

Isn't that the kind of thing you argued about Tyreke?

That he should start from Day One because he’s the 4th pick?

Or maybe I’m thinking of someone else.

might want to double check that before you throw that out there

Might not.

Since I admitted that I might be thinking of someone else.

I have a wedding to plan. I’m not going to dissect your comments from 3+ years ago to prove a point.

But someone argued it. And I didn’t say Jimmer should play because of where he went in the draft. I said he should play because he’d help us break down the zone.

What’s with you today? Someone switch you to decaf?

What?

Seriously?

I know, she's finally marrying that SB guy

About time.

Making an honest woman of me at last. :)

Actually, Killerking is getting married 3 weeks from today, and I have work to do.

SB and I are celebrating our 25th anniversary in April. In Kauai. For ten days.

Excellent

Congrats on the impending nuptials. My wife and I tied the knot in Kauai, it’s the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen.

You guys staying in the north or south?

We haven't picked a hotel

Just booked the flight. I’m looking at the south shore, though.

I’ve never been to Hawaii, and I’m practically counting the days. We’re planning to do some hiking, some kayaking, and I found a great helicopter tour that takes you to a waterfall that you can only get to by air. They land, you swim & picnic, then fly you out.

Mostly I’d like to do a whole lot of nothing with the only person in the world that knows everything about me and loves me anyway.

Get the 'Ultimate Guide to Kaui'

We always buy a book or two and think they really help.

Kaui is the prettiest of the islands by far, we’ve mostly done the North Shore as most people prefer, as the South can be very rainy depending on the time of year.
Now if you’re looking for places to hand out at night Kaui is not the Island, it shuts down at 10pm. Maui is sort of the middle ground on beauty and restuarants/nightlife.
Definately do the kyaking.

(hang out at night)

But check a guide book before you decide

where to stay.
They all should mention the seasons and rainy side dry (er) side at what times of year.

Yep. I own the Ultimate Guide.

And my parents have a timeshare there, so they’ve warned me about the lack of nightlife.

But since it’s a second honeymoon type of thing, I’m not terribly concerned.

oh get a room!

since it’s a second honeymoon type of thing, I’m not terribly concerned.

Sounds great SB/LPA. I have stayed in the Poipu area a number of times. For what it’s worth, I prefer staying in a condo over a hotel. It is easy to get groceries (on the way from the airport) you can expirement with local food (yum, passion fruit/guava instead of OJ in the AM) and you get to save some money by preparing your own breakfast/lunches and dinner if you chose to. You can have breakfast in your “small clothes” and eat when you prefer not at the times listed. Food at the restaurants in the 49th state is delicious but very expensive, in general.
Oh and you must try the Kaui Pie Ice Cream at Lapperts. I insist.
And remember – sun screen.
The Helicopter is nice (they show you the remote area where Jurassic Park was filmed), I also like the Zodiac boats at the north shore (Na’apli Coast).

Oh, and I agree about playing the rooks as much as possible. Now is the time to play them, forfeiting a win or two now makes more sense to me

Native of the 49th state here-

Hawaii is the 50th. I imagine the rest of this is spot on.

lead_pipe - February 3, 2012 reply

oops!

above the 49th parallel is the 49th state. Got it!

Have you taken the hike from the very end of the North shore

along the coast then inland to falls? It’s a long hike but the beach in the middle is a good spot to rest and 100 foot falls and the cool pool at the bottom of it is worth it in the end.
The Coast part of the hike is much harder than 2nd half, though many people turn back at the beach.

Bring water and a snack

Hiking?

So boring! (Kidding, it’s not my cup of tea, but I know I’m weird).

Catamaran up the Na Pali coast and do some snorkling. Come back and lay on Tunnels Beach and watch the sun set.

That there’s how you do a vacation, my friend.

I'm not much of a

‘sit on the beach all day’ vacationer. No full service resorts for me (yet). I like to get out and do things. That’s relaxing for me, seeing the sights, drinking in a place piece by piece.

I hear ya

I do like my relaxing time. Although I made sure to do a bit of boogyboarding, golfing, some horseback riding and the usual touristy stuff.

The hike you’re talking about did come highly recommended from the locals.

It's fairly long

but diving into that cool pool at the bottom of that giant waterfall is one of those memories that are hard to quantify – or beat..

We did that in Puerto Rico a couple of years ago.

Long hike in El Yunque followed by a swim under a waterfall.

Followed by killerking grabbing a vine and almost swinging off a cliff when playing Tarzan.

Good times.

They have a great grotto to do that on Kaui

It’s actually on private land but it’s short walk from the road about midway on the island.

It’s a looong jump down but it’s very deep and ‘reasonably’ safe. There is a Tarzan rope that I yanked my shoulder on.
It’s in the book.

Golf is too much like work for me

and all those extra balls get expensive!

WHAT? I DON'T EVEN...

Google 'Robin Williams on Golf'

painfully funny! – and it represents my attitude.

On my vacations, I prefer drinking in every place

And trying to get a piece

I call those Mondays

I'm a mom.

I always bring water and a snack. :)

April? But what about the Kings playoff games?

Hahahahahahahaha!

Good one.

Cancun in May for us, just booked it.

meeting a couple of my brothers down there, party party.

Fun.

We should totally plan an StR cruise or tropical getaway. Cowboyron could host.

Uhhh, I'll pass if he's the host

A friend of my brothers owns a small resort south of Cancun so we get a good deal.
And my work has sent me to freakin’ Honolulu so many times that wifey has been to all the islands at this point.

We really want to do Belize but the Cancun thing is so easy (and cheaper). Belize is hard to get to from the West Coast, very few flights.

There are some cruiselines that hit it.

We’re giving the newlyweds a cruise honeymoon, so I’ve done a lot of research lately.

Maybe you could book two half cruises (get off in Belize, get back on in Belize) and make a serious vacation out of it.

Seriously.

You’re arguing other people’s comments with me. I don’t want to argue with you. So, yeah. Seriously.

I only argued one other person's comment and it was one you said "exactly this" on.

but could you just not throw out the whole Reke at 4 thing next time unless you know? I can’t imagine saying that but now I have to check back 3 years now or else I’m a hypocrite.

The tenth pick thing was a throw-away comment.

The rest of your post I don’t understand.

So… bye.

/curly bill.gif

Isn’t that the kind of thing you argued about Tyreke?
That he should start from Day One because he’s the 4th pick?

Or maybe I’m thinking of someone else.

I don’t care if you said “Or maybe I’m thinking of someone else” in there. Don’t write that unless you know it.

Then you have the balls to me “I have a wedding to plan. I’m not going to dissect your comments from 3+ years ago to prove a point” and “what’s with you today.”

What am I supposed to remember that off the top of my head? And now unless I spend the time to look back at it I still end up sounding like a hypocrite regardless of whether you are not sure.

If you don’t know don’t even touch it.

ug

*to tell me

and maybe I don't know what the definition of a throw away comment is

but to me this was kind of a big part of the comment

you don’t sit the 10th pick of the draft when you desperately need him to get better, I don’t care what the matchups are.

Granted, immediately after that was the “But the thing is” matchups part and maybe that was only you were agreeing with him but I dunno yet. And if that’s the case and you actually disagree with the notion that as the 10th pick it doesn’t even matter what the matchups are you then fine.

wow big fail

if that’s the case and you actually disagree with the notion that as the 10th pick it doesn’t even matter what the matchups are then okay fair enough.

Also questioning how Outlaw became part of the 2nd unit

However, his play didn’t make me want to puke last night, so, that’s an improvement…

I am guessing here...

but I think Outlaw has played well in practice, so Smart gave him some burn. I though his extra length helped us, as well as his aggressiveness.

I was confused to see Outlaw come in as well

Thought it might have to do with him knowing the Blazers from playing with them so long.

Agree

Mostly, I was shocked that I wasn’t cursing him every 30 seconds like when he usually plays. His shot wasn’t falling, but he at least played aggressively. I don’t know how much he helped, but for the most part he didn’t hurt. Sure would be nice if his shot started falling though. Atrocious is too kind a word…

Coach Smart was doing whatever he could to try to end 5-game skid...

Including sitting Jimmer. No big deal. He will play again.

bench_blob - February 3, 2012 reply

yep

Sometimes the simplest answer is the best.

Couldn't have said it better.

I love me some Jimmer, but yeah, we won. Get better in practice and minutes will come from any reasonable coach.

Citadel 29 - February 3, 2012 reply

Sometimes a team just needs a win

the fans as well.

Be careful nbrans and LPA

You’re not allowed to criticize anything after a win. Only allowed to vomit unicorns and rainbows onto the screen. It has been decreed.

Jimmer goes from starter to DNP-CD? Cousins doesn’t play the fourth quarter? Who cares, we won on the back of John Salmons and Travis Outlaw!!! Yippee!

Are there many people really strongly defending the Cousins benching?

Lots of people complaining that there is criticism of the coach after a win

who said or used the logic that you are in fact not allowed to critize anything after a win.

Just one excerpt

kings just got a grab win over a good team and you guys are still arguing back and forth about….jimmer? rookie? and his minutes. who cares. they won. enjoy it, you never know when the next blow out is coming right around the corner..

Sorry was asking whom

because I only saw one in this thread (the same one).

Scirocco, you win the passive aggressive award for February!

now if only Salmons played a bad game

Great, send me a certificate, I'll frame it on my wall

I'll send over some Ziller bucks as well

It's early days yet.

Jimmered could still come in and take it.

The job of a coach is to win games

It is not the job of a coach to weaken his lineup (given his perception) to get someone minutes.

Did the coach win this game?

Or did the team win in SPITE of the coach? I felt like his rotations hurt more than they helped

Yes, the coach gets a win for the game, along with the players that he played

At least the last time I checked the standings, we won the game. If his rotations didn’t sit well with you, I’m sorry about that. But I’m going to take Smart’s decisions last night over your opinions. But hey, maybe that’s just me.

Post hoc, ergo propter hoc

Yes, Smart was coaching a team that won the game last night. However its debateable whether he was helping or not. His substititon pattern for example wasn’t so great. Why are you being so butthurt about this criticism?

Not butthurt, just don't agree with it in any way, shape or form

The Kings won last night, largely on the adjustments that they made at halftime and the defense that they played in the 2nd half. The coaching staff takes the blame when the team gets blistered in the 3rd-4th quarters, so they should equally get as much credit when the team succeeds.

Simply, this team won because of its defense last night. I’m hard pressed to see how changing the rotations that Smart used last night would have improved the defense even more.

Smart gets credit for defensive scheme

But he also deserves criticism when a 7 point Kings lead evaporates towards the end of the third/early fourth because of a crappy rotation. I remember specifically an IT/Thornton/Outlaw/Hayes/Hickson lineup that had me pulling my hair out.

There is some truth there

1 1/2 guys who can score

I think the real disappointment there is Hickson

The guy came into this season with a career .571 TS%. So if he was just playing to his average, that would lead the team (outside of Honeycutt’s SSS).

In other words, I think you’d get something out of that lineup offensively if Hickson wasn’t still stinking up the joint.

I just don't get that

Hickson seems to be in good condition, what is going on with him? Is it the lack of assited basket opportunities?

While I don't agree with your comment

I do remember being very confused and asking why that lineup was on the floor. It just seemed wrong.

Disagree

At least part of a coach’s job is to develop young players and make the team better in the long run. That job is doubly important when you have a crappy team that desperately needs its young players to get better.

So which old player should have sat for Jimmer?

Evans(22)? Thoamas (22)? Or old man Thornton (24)?

Reke can play SF for small stretches of minutes

So you can start by giving Jimmer the 11 minutes that went to Outlaw.

you do realize Outlaw didn't play all those minutes at SF right?

Let's play Tyreke at the 4!!!

No, trade him

NaPG

Sodium Point Guard?

And who does Fredette cover in this setup?

Felton? Crawford? When you are trying to put forth a solid defensive effort, is Fredette an improvement over Outlaw? Over anyone?

So to recap, had Fredette gotten 11 minutes last night and Outlaw received a DNP-CD, you would have been happier, regardless of the outcome? I’ll take 11 minutes of Outlaw and the win.

He can guard Elliot Williams just fine

On the other hand, his scoring would have been a boon to a lineup that couldn’t hit the broadside of a barn.

Williams played 6 minutes last night

So your point is that Fredette should play whenever the other team puts a player on the floor that perhaps he can cover. And here’s a fun fact: the Kings exceeded the season numbers in FG%, 3 point %, and FT % last night.

Don't straw man the argument

Point is there were guys Jimmer could guard out on the court.

And I’m sure Outlaw really helped those shooting percentages with his 1/5 from the field, 2/4 from the line, and 0/3 from three

Outlaw defended pretty well, and defense won the game

Rage on, my brother. I’m out.

You've said that three times already and yet here you are

And once again the team lost the lead with an offensively inept lineup on the court. Its not too much to ask for Smart to clean that up

By the way the team actually lost the lead because of a lack of halfcourt offense with that lineup

We're just going to have to agree to disagree on this one

I found last night’s game completely satisfying and rewarding, and did not find myself wanting to see Fredette or Greene or Garcia or Cousins play any more minutes than they did. One game, one win, very nice. Sorry that it didn’t work so well for you.

Last night was pretty rewarding honestly

I love the progress Tyreke has made in his game. I’m ecstatic to see Thornton back in the lineup. Thompson had the ideal roleplayers’ game. And as a heavy defender of the Salmons trade in the offseason, I’m glad to see Salmons play well.

But years of being a Kings fan has taught me to curtail enthusiasm in wins and limit depression after losses, so I see room for improvement. I’d like to see Smart clean up the bench rotation because its costing us on the court. Otherwise it was a fun win where all of our talented youngsters, while not shooting too efficiently, had their abilities on full display.

I missed Cousins on the court

Same here.

By that logic

How would you feel about Reke guarding Gerald Wallace, who until last night has absolutely demolished us this season?

Olde Greg - February 3, 2012 reply

I'm not comfortable with Evans and Thornton playing 41 minutes each in a compressed schedule

So let’s start there. I also think Smart shouldn’t be so terrified to play Jimmer and IT together. So slide everyone up a position and take Outlaw’s minutes.

There’s 20 minutes right there.

He's really working Tyreke on the minutes - 44 against the Dubs and 41 last night

If Reke wasn’t in shape before, he’s sure going to be before the season’s over.

Or he's going to get injured

I could understand riding him when Thornton was out, but riding both of them is not a recipe for getting through the season in one piece.

Ever?

I agree that 41 minutes a night as an average would be too much, but in any particular game? I don’t see the problem. Evans is averaging 36 minutes a night for the season, with Thornton averaging 35.

Get Evans his rest in the blowouts (and there will still be plenty of them).

As otis said, 44 against the Warriors, 41 last night

No, I’m not comfortable with that.

Me either

Not with this schedule. I think we lost the Jazz game because Tyreke was so gassed at the end.

He's averaging 39 a game over his last five

Which is on a par with how many minutes guys like LeBron, Kobe, and Blake Griffin are playing. If those guys can log those minutes, why can’t Evans?

Should have said on a par with what those guys have played over their last five games

Evans currently ranks 18th in the league in minutes per game, in between Brandon Jennings and LaMarcus Aldridge.

I'm probably off base here

But it just seems like Tyreke’s style of play currently is pretty labor intensive. You might be right that it’s no big deal, but I’ve noticed him looking fatigued at the end of a few games recently.

Yeah, this

Asking Evans to carry that load as a primary ballhandler is a whole lot.

It would be easier if he brought the ball up faster

and didn’t let the defender work him so hard just getting it to the 3 pt line. Mentally as well as physically.

I get what you guys are saying here

And if it becomes a long run of these games, I’m right on board with you. Evans has 8 games this season of 40+ minutes. The Kings are 4-4 in those games with a point differential of -1.5. They are 3-11 in the other games with a point differential in excess of -11 per game. My guess is that the KIngs are going to have plenty more of these double digit losses where Evans can get some rest.

Because he looked so tired at the end of the Jazz game

he didn’t run, pass or shoot until the clock was almost gone.

You know, it's funny

how everyone talks about Denver being a mile high, but it is rarely mentioned that Salt Lake City is also a mile high. I am always amazed when any player logs more than about 36 minutes in either of those venues.

Then he should have had a breather earlier

That’s coaching – right?

WTF?

It may appear in a moment but the 2nd half of my comment was
’That’s coaching – right?’

It's there now

All these GIFs are messing with my machine

Agreed

But it seems as though this is the case throughout the league. Denver has always been credited with having this homecourt advantage because of the elevation, but it is never (or rarely) mentioned as it pertains to Utah. I have always found that odd.

If I were playing in either of those venues, I’d be subbing guys in and out very aggressively.

Of course no Marcus to take some of the pressure

but you have to trust the guys available.

Easy to say about the number in a vaccume

But go back into the game thread, the few times we didn’t have Evans or Cousins in the game, the Jazz killed us.

Remember at the half we had 0 points from our bench. And at the end of the game, IT was the only bench player who scored (I think) and he got hot in the 4th quarter.

I understand

but Tyreke looked so gassed he was at about 50%.
I’ll take a minute or two from someone else.

I want to agree with you

It seems like Evans has been playing heavy minutes he’s not used to.

I just think in the Jazz game specifically, a couple of minutes from someone else and we may not have been in the game at the end.

Hopefully with Thronton back, we can have some more balanced rotations because we have more offensive weapons available.

At least part of a coach’s job is to develop young players and make the team better in the long run.

I don’t disagree with you. And I think if Jimmer sits out the next 20 games it’ll be a failing on Smart’s part. However, I’m not going to dump on the coach for sitting a player one game against a team that has toasted him on defense twice. There are different ways to teach players. So far Smart has done a good job of developing Evans, IT and Cousins.

Let’s give him an opportunity to work with Jimmer and see if he is effective instead of bringing out the pitchforks and torches because he sits a player for a game.

Yep.

Yeah, I agree with that.

If there was a message being sent or because he didn’t like the matchup, one game on the bench isn’t going to kill Jimmer. Don’t think I was bringing out the pitchforks and torches with my comments.

But still, one reason Smart didn’t stick in Oakland was because of perceived mishandling and underplaying of Steph Curry, and I think there’s a danger of Smart doing something similar to Jimmer. I don’t think Smart should be falling down on the job of getting Jimmer playing time – he’s come along way in the past 10 games and he needs more time.

One game is not the end of the world, if it keeps up I will dust off the pitchfork.

No disagreement here

I still need to get torches re-oiled after the PW mobs.

one game on the bench isn’t going to kill Jimmer.

BUT WHAT IF IT DOES? WHAT IF HE’S DYING?

Duh. He has the power to heal himself.

Smart is playing for his job.

He knows the more wins he gets, the more likely he will get rehired. So he plays the guys that he thinks will give the team the best chance to win.

With a team as young across the board as we have

I’d guess that in most cases, player development and chasing wins go hand in hand.

Yep

Agree that it’s specious logic to not play arguably your best player due to foul trouble, and then have him end the game with 4 fouls.

And Jimmer should have gotten some burn, since he performed well offensively against Portland the last time out PLUS he’s been hot.

That was one of the major complaints from Dubs fans was Smart’s odd rotations. Hard to complain too much when you get a win, but it makes you wonder if the margin would have been more comfortable if Cousins had gotten some additional minutes down the stretch.

How did the Dubs Fans feel about the 10 extra wins under Smart?

HighTops - February 3, 2012 reply

Not sure

Listening to the talking heads on KNBR, there didn’t appear to be a great deal of angst over his departure. They just wrote it off as new ownership wanting to bring in their own guy.

Tell you what though – I’d much rather have Smart than “hand down, man down”.

Warriors ownership seems to be trying to make a splash

But doesn’t really seem to know how. They handled this offseason in terrible fashion. Going after Chandler was a good idea, but to then go after a RFA in DeAndre Jordan who was almost guaranteed to get his contract matched, and amnestying Charlie Bell’s relatively minuscule 1 year contract instead of saving it for Biedrins was terrible.

Yes, very strange

Don’t forget hiring a coach who’s never coached.
I don’t see them finishng with a better record than us but we’ll see, it should be close.

And that's saying a lot considering they have a much more veteran team

and a higher payroll

So, you think that this year, finally, after 7 years in a row, I will win my Warriors/Kings bet and not have to take Dubs Bud and his lovely wife out to dinner. Again?

Hard to say about this year. But I say triple the bet next year.

ExPFCWintergreen - February 3, 2012 reply

hand down, man down

I will, from this point on, be calling Coach Mark Jackson….Coach Handown Mandown. Funny stuff man, thanks.

Kingstime - February 3, 2012 reply

agree with this. It seems more than a bit odd to me to have your best all-around player spend a tremendous amount of time on the bench. I wondered why he was taken out in the first quarter— after two fouls. Big friggin deal. It seems to me that a player should be able to make adjustments on his own after receiving two fouls, rather than have a paternalistic benching “for your own good.” In the second half, it was doubly odd to see him sitting on the bench.

I also believe that Fredette was intentionally benched, and that had been the plan since well before the game.

andy sims - February 3, 2012 reply

This made me think of this actor and one of his films as well

betweentheeyes - February 4, 2012 reply

I have to be honest, given the final line of the previous post, I think this is the funniest thing I've ever excreted into these hallowed halls.

andy sims - February 4, 2012 reply

Smart's Press Conference

I really like how he talked abt keeping certain guys on the floor b/c the “flow” of the game was in the Kings favor. He wasn’t going to force someone back in, just b/c they are a starter or normally have big stats. He said he did that last game and it screwed everything up. If the line-up on the floor is working, stick with it.

gregory l - February 3, 2012 reply

I'd generally agree with that, but I think it's a stretch when you're talking about your most productive player

yes

As long as it's one game, and a win ....

Agreed

I know it’s easy to say “he made the right move, we got the win”. That excludes the possibility that we win that one going away if DeMarcus gets some minutes in the fourth.

Seems like playing with fire to me.

DeMarcus did seem to have his head down a lot last night

perhaps that what Smart will tell him, that no matter what is going on with you that that stuff is contagious.
Anyway, a pass I guess for one night and a win.

Funny thing is this was a quirk of Nelson's

He would play the hot player or lineup over forcing a certain player back into the game.

Wonder if this is a quirk that Smart learned from his time mentoring under him.

he specifically said after the Utah game that he made a dumb mistake late in the game and intended not to do it again

Have a feeling this was it

Actually wasn't that the game where he ran out of time outs?

That would be my first guess at the mistake he made.

Well they did have three timeouts in the 4th when four is more ideal

but when I was watching the post game interview with Smart last night, I couldn’t help but think he was talking about what gregory is referring to.

That's exactly what Mark Jackson did against the Kings the other night.

ExPFCWintergreen - February 3, 2012 reply

yeah, he is a good talker alright

My two cents

First, I do not, do not, do not understand why Cousins didn’t get on the floor for the last 20 minutes of the game.

Agree with you. I had to go to a movie during the final 5 minutes. But I assumed Smart was saving his fouls. Very surprised he didn’t get back in. He played well to start the third.

Second, you put in your best 3pt shooter against a zone.

I don’t have a problem with Jimmer sitting out this game. Thronton and IT can shoot too. And Salmons was hot last night. Problem Jimmer can’t guard Felton or Crawford and Matthews is too strong for him. Smart/PW has tried hiding Jimmer on all three and he’s gotten burned in the first two match ups. If Portland had successfully used the zone in the second half like they did in the second quarter, we may have had to play Jimmer. But that wasn’t the case. I love Jimmer, but he’s going to have to play better defense to earn minutes.

Third, for all of the broadcast team’s vaunting Isaiah Thomas as "Mr. Fourth Quarter," he had some pretty bad plays.

Agree. He’s a rookie. He’s very cold-blooded and fearless, but still needs to improve his decision making.

Tyreke, Salmons, and Thornton on the floor at the same time means that our bigs don’t touch the ball unless they rebound it.

I think we can safely remove Evans from this. He had several dishes inside to our bigs, hits the bigs on the pop a lot and even hit JT for a layup on the slip screen in the third quarter.

Because he hasn't learned to get his shot off against an athletic shotblocker like

[Dalembert/Camby/etc…]

Well

Yes he made some bone head “rookie” plays don’t forget that block was amazing and timely . Personally i believe that Line up was working well together Keith Smart made adjustments in the game vs GSW late and in my opinion that hurt this team and wasn’t the only reason they lost but i believe it was a factor.

It's amazing to me

That some players get to have a nice justification for playing like an idiot but others it becomes a huge liability and they get pulled….kind of hypocritical if you ask me. I’m still boggled at the DMC minutes as well…

herehere - February 3, 2012 via mobile reply

DMC

Was in foul trouble all night dumb fouls on the block why would you insert him back in when the defense was buckling down on Aldridge without him?

A thought on Coach Smart

I have really liked the way he seems to be actively and consistently coaching the team. What I mean by that is that he’s always up and moving on the sideline, and always talking to players and giving them tips.

At one point last night Outlaw grabbed a rebound, but didn’t secure it properly. A Portland player (Craig Smith, I think), tied him up and a jump ball was called. Outlaw looked frustrated, like he wanted a foul call. As soon as the whistle was called, Smart was shouting to get Outlaw’s attention, and demonstrated what he needed to do to secure the ball and prevent the same thing from happening again.

It’s such a small thing, and it could easily be me grasping at something I like to see, but it just seems refreshing. Westphal had a constant air about him of “I coached them, it’s up to them to execute now.” Smart has a reputation as a player development coach, and it’s easy to see why. He’s constantly working on improving every aspect of players’ games.

Odd win, but I'll take it...

The most striking thing to me about last night was not Jimmer DNP-CD or DeMarcus on bench for long stretches, it was the difference Marcus Thornton makes. He’s just a helluva player when he is energized. His timing was off, but without him in the line-up we lose by 20 points.

There seems to be a consensus around here, more or less, that Marcus is a chucker, and can’t pass, doesn’t want to pass…but I don’t buy it. Its an easy but incorrect label to pin on our player just because he has a natural knack to score the basketball.

What he really is a damn good basketball player. The Kings desperately missed his competitive intensity during 5 game losing streak, the way he plays and attacks can be contagious. I love his ability to play passing lanes, get out in transition. And his 5 points on 3 pointer lay-up provided the separation at the end.

The recipe for winning is clear in my mind: Two of our three young stars have to play well to give us good chance, with modest contributions from role players. We got that last night.

bench_blob - February 3, 2012 reply

That's a great way to put it

For all of the warts outside of his shooting, Marcus is extremely competitive. And this team needs as much of that as they can get.

Henry Turner made a great point on the radio on the way home

The Kings have had many periods this year where they just don’t score for 5 or 6 minutes at a time, or their halfcourt offense starts to get stagnant. Marcus Thornton is a guy who can keep the team from getting into those situations just by being aggressive. Sometimes he’s too aggressive and gets a bit of tunnel vision, but a lot of the time he ends up getting a bucket or a trip to the line.

Holy shit

Henry Turner made a great point!?

Marcus needs to drive with his head up a little more

talk about a guy who puts his head down on a lot of drives – whew!

If he saw the floor a little better . . .

He needs to learn to

give up the damn ball sometimes. He’s a scorer first and foremost, that’s his strength, but he needs to have better court awareness and be less selfish. I wanted to scream at the TV when he forced that fast break attempt in the third quarter on a 2-on-1 with Tyreke trailing him. He got bailed out with a foul, but if he just dumps it back to Tyreke that’s an easy layup.

I remember the one you are talking about. Should have passed to Evans.

Hopefully Smart and Bobby Jackson can teach him. He’ll never even be the passer Evans is. But I do picture Thronton turning into BoJax 2.0. BoJax was always a scorer first, but developed into a better passer. I am hoping our coaching tandem can mentor him.

Yeah, Bobby was a shoot first kind of guy

But he seemed to be able to control it, and learned to pick his spots pretty well. I like the comparison. If we can get the same kind of production out of Thornton, I’d be very happy with that.

Agree

Think the potential is there. They wouldn’t be identical players, but I think BoJax can teach Thronton to be a very highly effective 6th man if MT23 is willing to listen and learn.

Well, Thornton had been a bit of a chucker this season before this game.

Relying way too much on 3’s, not driving to the lane a whole lot. But last night was the return of Thornton as he was at the end of last season and I think that has to do with his leg being healthy. Last night he was aggressive, did not settle for his jumper, and was active on D.

Salmons kept us afloat when the team was struggling, constantly making shots when “rock bottom” seemed imminent. It really took pressure off of Tyreke because Wallace had to switch back onto Salmons.

Salmons was the hero

and Marcus was great late, lack of aggressiveness late has lost us some games.

He still should pass more.

Currently ranked 101st in Assist Rate and 13th in FGA's per game

That’s among all guards playing at least 15 mpg.

If he didn’t put up so many contested shots or didn’t have so many games where he ended up shooting under 40%, I wouldn’t call him a chucker, but that’s not the case.

His efg% last night was only 38% but for once he got to the line enough to get his TS% above 50% He actually has the 4th worst FT to FGA ratio on the team. His eFG% is at 45% but he’s as many sub 40% shooting games as he’s had +50%, but he still seems to end up with the highest number of FGA’s no matter what his FG% is for the game.

HighTops - February 3, 2012 reply

Yes, but we have a problem with having a player willing to take a good shot late

Marcus is willing.
“Better to get off a bad shot than no shot at all”

Disagree

Well, Thornton had been a bit of a chucker this season before this game. But last night was the return of Thornton as he was at the end of last season and I think that has to do with his leg being healthy. Last night he was aggressive, did not settle for his jumper, and was active on D.

Last night was not a return to form from last year for Marcus, because prior to injury versus Dwight Howard, Marcus was playing at a higher and sharper level.

We still have not seen the best he has to offer. He has not found his shooting rhythm that can result in run of 25+ PPG on 50% shooting, or pass the ball like he can. I am confident he will be getting to new levels of efficiency in next few weeks.

But great to see him get line for 12 FTAs.

bench_blob - February 3, 2012 reply

Yeah, one thing Marcus hasn't been great at in his career

is getting to the line, which is a bit odd considering how much he attacks. Maybe he’s learning how to better draw contact, because he should be getting to the line a bunch.

Derrick Rose syndrome

He tended to try to avoid contact before, but now he’s inviting it.

Just keep avoiding it when Howard is setting the pick please.

And try to steer clear of Crash's elbows

Seriously

He almost got decapitated.

Agree. The replay and the angle his neck bent was downright scary

'he's inviting it' or creating it as evident by his many charging calls

HighTops - February 3, 2012 reply

I still hate how much we jog on both ends

You can’t be a running team if you don’t run. These guys jog. A lot. Especially after they give up an easy basket. They just jog or walk the ball up the floor. I hate that. Shows me little competitive spirit. If someone scores on me, I want to get the ball up as quick as possible and get the basket back. These guys slow down and wait for the defense to get set up. Something you really don’t want to do in the NBA.

Tom A~! - February 3, 2012 reply

We've seen what can happen when Tyreke runs full speed back down court

add some wings following and a pass occasionally and -

Last night however we rarely got into that ‘not getting the ball to the 3pt line until 10 seconds left’ mess.
But even a bit faster please, don’t let the defenses rotate and get fully set!

Man

Good thing I DVRd the game and watched the 4th quarter after I already knew the outcome. Some of those late turnovers- wow. Hopefully this will be a turning point of sorts for Salmons. I’d still rather see a random fan pulled from the stands and out on the court instead of Outlaw, but what are you gonna do?

A W is a W though! Nice to have everybody healthy for a change.

outrider - February 3, 2012 reply

Smart is a great teacher

You can tell by the progress DMC and Tyreke have made that they are really advancing in their decisionmaking and making smarter plays overall. I’m not so sure he’s a great coach though. His rotations are a bit questionable. I feel like the Kings won this game on the back of their talent not great coaching.

Largely agree

GS fans complained about Smart’s player rotations, so we may be witnessing a weakness of his.

Although, I think he’s also trying to find a rotation of 8 consistent player on this team. So time will tell if this is a new coach trying to find the end of his rotation or a real problem.

Also,

I believe that last night may have been the first game that he has had the entire roster – I think that he lost Hayes after 9 minutes of his first game, and Thornton went down the very next game.

Why are you making things up Section?

According to your own post, he had 9 whole minutes to figure this out before. What was he doing for those 9 minutes? Fire Smart!

Seriously though, good point. I hadn’t thought of that.

And you could make the argument that John Salmons hadn't been playing up until last night

and I would find it hard to argue otherwise.

thought he did well against the Warriors

Marcus Thornton
Tyreke Evans
John Salmons
Jason Thompson
DeMarcus Cousins

Chuck Hayes
Isaiah Thomas
Jimmer Fredette

I think that right now is our best 8 man rotation wityh the three at the bottom subbing in (When you remove Tyreke, I think you gotta put in Isaiah or Garcia for his defense, and same with Thornton/Jimmer)

But you left out Outlaw

Kidding of course. Would add JJ into the rotation and we need a wing. So maybe it’s more of a 9-10 man rotation.

I think the biggest challenge is handling the guards. Evans & Thornton need to play heavy minutes. And IT & Jimmer need minutes to develop. You can run a 3 guard lineup in certain circumstances. However, I think we’ll also have more games where IT or Jimmer gets very little run due to situational match ups.

Exactly..This is why i was saying Garcia as well up there because he is a good 2/3 defensive guy, whereas i see Isaiah as a good 1/maybe 2 defender. Also remember while Salmons is a SF here, his normal position is more of a SG if i remember correctly..So this lineup would really be a 3 g linup for starts (even though salmons can defend 2/3 positions and shoot in either position too. I fyou expenaded it out to 9-10 i would add in

Marcus Thornton
Tyreke Evans
John Salmons
Jason Thompson
DeMarcus Cousins

Isaiah Thomas
Jimmer Fredette
Francisco Garcia
JJ Hickson
Chuck Hayes

With Honeycutt, Outlaw, Donte and Whiteside on the bench , in the dleague. I would also like to see Honeycutt get some more burn this year, as i Think he could really be a long term answer at the 3

Hope so with Honeycut. We'll see.

If he’s a hard worker, he seems as if he could fall somewhere on the Doug Christie-Trevor Ariza spectrum of long, quick players.

Thats my thought- And i see him splitting time at 3/4

Haha I feel like people fight more when we win!

And what we need to do is when. A coach is there to get the win during the game. A coach is there to help players get better during practice. I think its crazy to use games to make players better rather then go for wins, just like its crazy to use practice to go for wins rather then make players better.

ThomasGQ - February 3, 2012 reply

I think most people arguing about the rotation

Feel the Kings would have still won the game, maybe easier than they actually did. It’s not like they’re saying “it’s ok to lose as long as we’re developing our players.”

Ostensibly, I’d hope Smart is doing both (winning and developing the young talent).

is salmons the best defnder?

And I do think smart has been riding jimmer, not happy with him.

dinnertim - February 3, 2012 via mobile reply

Salmons defense the past couple of games

has kept him in the starting lineup and it hasn’t gone unnoticed by the coaching staff. He is bringing something to the table that other guys aren’t. We don’t need him chucking, we need him stopping and making life difficult for the other team’s best SG/SF. I’m ok with that as long as he also puts a little pressure on them on the other end like he did last night.

As far as Jimmer goes, he needs this IMO. One game DNP your rookie year shouldn’t totally take you out mentally. If it does, you are not mentally strong enough for this league. I believe Jimmer will perservere through this and come to play strong vs GS, which is good medicine for struggling offense ;)

Tom A~! - February 3, 2012 reply

Salmons' defense has definitely been awesome the last few games

Credit where due.

This season is a wash, Why not see what kind of talent we have and kickbutt next year

Lucky win last night, should have been a blowout by us. Lots of brainfarts by coach and players. Blazers hype is wearing down, not a team that scares me. We are much better when we play smart bbal. Should have played jimmer in this game, how else will he get better if not on the floor. Lineups should reflect the future of team, we are not in any playoff hunt so we can give minutes to developing players for next year. Team playing will not be the same neaxt year. JJ might be gone, outlaw for sure so why not. We will garner just as many wins. No superstars on team.

rbk84 - February 3, 2012 reply

Wesley Mathews has really taken a step back

He looks a little heavy in the middle to me which may explain some of it.

If you stay close and control LMA late you have a good shot at beating them.

Lucky win last night, should have been a blowout by us. Lots of brainfarts by coach and players. Blazers hype is wearing down, not a team that scares me.

Don’t see how it was lucky. We beat them.

Blazers are much better at home. But they are a good team. A playoff team, but not a real contender. LA is legit. They have good size and play good D. The Felton/Crawford/Matthews back court is very hit or miss though.

We may have won

but I’ll bet Blazersedge is saying that they lost the game at the FT line.

taking too many jump shots and not attacking in the second half

and doubling Aldridge quick enough in the second half to force him to pass it or dribble and once he dribbles everyone who scouts him knows he is shooting

Haha. True

We can play that game too though. We shot under 30% from three. We make those and their missed FT are a non factor.

To both of you

When the FTs aren’t falling players tend to drive to the basket less and shoot jumpers (?).

And there’s always another side to the story, I’m just betting that that is theirs. How many games have we lost at the FT line? 2-3 maybe?

oh sorry

I was just recapping what the writers at Blazers Edge wrote since I thought you were guessing it

Agree with you

Over/Under on how much longer we will be praising Smart by incessantly juxtaposing him against PW on this board?

I’m gonna set it at 22.5 games.

RJinFairOaks - February 3, 2012 reply

This whole season

Possibly in to the next season.

4 of the next 5 games are very winnable

Very winnable.
And we have everyone reasonably healthy. . . .

How much fun would a little 3-game win streak be right about now?

I won’t get my hopes up, but we haven’t had many in the past several years.

RJinFairOaks - February 3, 2012 reply

If we get a three-game win streak

I’ll be singing, “I could have daaaaaaaanced all niiiiiight”

I'll be at the GS game tomorrow night yelling for back to backs!

The only streak I know of as a Kings fan

Is the ones in my shorts

LMAO

“Another big contributor for Sacramento tonight was John Salmons, who was clearly frustrated that he had been snubbed by the voters for a spot as an All-Star Starter.” I know I’m super late but wow, this was funny!

G McDiddy - February 3, 2012 reply

I was going to say something last night but no SBnation would load for some reason

Wow. Salmons and Outlaw actually doing something positive and Jimmer getting a DNPCD?

Really weird all around last night but whatever get’s us the W

LLcoolRay - February 3, 2012 reply

Serious question

Background: I’m a college basketball fan, have been for at least 40 years. I watch about 10 college games a week. Began following the Kings because of the Cisco draft and turned into a Kings fan. Mostly thanks to the analysis and comments on this site, I started to develop an “eye” for NBA ball.

That said, I really don’t remember Jimmer being that big of a deal in college ball. I mean, he was obviously a great shooter on an otherwise unspectactular team. Those guys pop up every few years, and get some notice. So, seriously, where did all of this Jimmer mania come from?

"spectacular" dammit

"unspectacular" double dammit

Kolob?

andy sims - February 4, 2012 reply

So you think it is a Mormon fanbase?

Like Yao’s following in China?

Did I just not see this when Jimmer was in college because it was concentrated on the BYU sites?