I like to think that fans of Sacramento Kings basketball have learned over the past <checks calendar> six years to excuse losses and losing. We learned long ago that Rebuilding has a best friend named Defeat, and that they hang out all of the fricking time. Most of us accepted in 2007 that the team faced a dark future and needed to get worse in order to get better. So we hung on as the expensive pieces were pawned for basically nothing -- Mike Bibby and Brad Miller literally got the team nothing in return -- and the first set of building blocks (Kevin Martin, Quincy Douby, Spencer Hawes) were cast aside for newer, 'better' ones. We survived 2008-09, somehow. We came to terms with a long twilight, and prayed hard for a forthcoming dawn.
But one thing that's proven more difficult is excusing mistakes. It popped up Sunday when Tyreke Evans made a bad foul that essentially cost the Kings the game against Cleveland. Evans rapped Kyrie Irving with Sacramento up one and just seconds left. Irving hit his free throws, and the Kings didn't get a shot off on the other end. It was a bad, bad play from Tyreke.
This is a sponsored post, however the content was written entirely and sincerely by me. -- TZ
As Aykis wrote in his weekly GB&U, the offseason was not kind to the Sacramento Kings. The John Salmons trade hasn't solidified the position; Salmons has been so unproductive that Keith Smart has already resorted to moving Tyreke Evans to the three. Chuck Hayes has suffered injuries and has seen his role tossed around like pizza dough. (What happened to the assertions from the front office that he was exactly what the starting five needed? Did Westphal pack those up in his box when he left?) J.J. Hickson has been rough. Travis Outlaw has been even more rough. Travis Outlaw is making loose grit sandpaper look like silk. Marcus Thornton, re-signed for big bucks, has been wholly inconsistent. Jimmer Fredette has been OK, but not the instant offense the team thought he'd be.
But the one player picked up or retained in the offseason that the Kings' front office can point to as a total success doubles as the one player who seems to change the game every time he steps on the floor ... and usually for the better. That player was the last pick in the 2011 NBA Draft: Isaiah Thomas.
Isaiah Thomas started in place of John Salmons on Friday as the Kings lost to the Pistons. That means that Tyreke Evans was essentially the small forward, if not the co-point guard. (Point forward? I don't know.) Two things that Keith Smart had been consistent about all season were that Tyreke Evans is a point guard and that Jimmer Fredette is a point guard. Jimmer started with Tyreke when Marcus Thornton was out, most likely because there were few other options outside of moving down Salmons to two-guard and bringing in Donte Greene at small forward. If Francisco Garcia isn't going to get a look, and you're not shifting Salmons to two-guard, it was going to be Jimmer or Isaiah replacing Thornton. As they are similar, it didn't say a whole lot about Tyreke.
This one seems to say a lot more.
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