Kings camp -
Good news - the Kings are still an NBA franchise and have "players" and "fan" support, with "plans" for building a new arena.
Bad news - the rest of the NBA teams are still in the NBA, with better "players", not so gullible "fan" support, all with "plans" for building a new arena.
The Kings have one, true threat on the squad - Kevin Martin, who, if anything, will be even better this season if his off-season training session to improve his post game and overall strength pays off.
Brad Miller is suspended for the first five games of the season, leaving the short-term center duties to second year player Spencer Hawes, who is coming off a scoping of his right knee, his fourth knee surgury since age fourteen. At least it was not on his "bad" knee this time. But I like Hawes' style, even though his politics runs straight Republican conservative. He plays like he has a chip on his shoulder and never hesitates to say what he feels, such as his initial camp refusal to take the mandatory suicide drill all players must pass every camp because he believes that was how he hurt his knee last year and had to miss six weeks for one of those knee scoping procedures he has had to endure. Then yesterday he took it and passed it first try, but is likely to still be fined by the team for not taking it earlier. Team unity thing.
The Kings gave a nice multi-year contract extension to Francisco Garcia, who continues to defy all expectations of improvement but is still an intriquing piece of the team's rotation. He is very talented in many aspects of the game and could eventually be a better scoring version of Doug Christie if his solid defense ever becomes shut down defense.
The team also paid Beno Udrih a five year, 32 million dollar bonus (contract) for actually being able to PLAY point guard on a team that sort of lacked one for years, not naming names <Bibby> and brought back fan-favorite Bobby Jackson to play about fifteen minutes behind the injury-prone starter. There have been several knocks against Udrih about him not being a quality NBA point guard, but from what I have seen, he clearly is very good at BEING a point guard and sometimes that is what a team needs instead of the Mike Bibby type of guard that scores first and then thinks of dimes. He will do for now. The most intriquing guy at the point is rookie Bobby Brown, undrafted out of Cal State Fullerton. If you get the chance to see him, keep your eyes on him.
Besides Brown, the Kings have tons of rookies or otherwise young players to evaluate this year, which looks like a non-playoff season once again, if the NBA pundits have it right. First round (and surprise) #12 pick Jason Thompson out of Rider University can score from the PF position and can defend and rebound a bit. The problem is the Kings need him to defend and rebound a whole lot. His backup, (former #5 pick by Atlanta two years ago) out of Duke, Sheldon Williams, needs to convince the team to pick up his option for the year by October 31st - no pressure there, but he came into camp determined to earn the job - a very good sign. He lost weight and worked out all summer with one of the Kings' assistant coaches to improve his conditioning and scoring around the basket.
Quincy Douby is entering his third season. A 6'3" shooting guard whom the Kings would like to turn into a combo guard, which he never really tried to be before. He can score, though and his long arms make him a very good defender for a relatively short two guard. But is he a viable enough threat on the court? If he does not become a critical part of the rotation this season, the team needs to cut the ties and move on.
Mikki Moore, John Salmons, and Kenny Thomas all have contracts that need to be honored this season. So they will be playing much of the time, though the jury is still out on how much Thomas will be part of the rotation. The other two will play a lot. They both have some skills, but this is the NBA and neither is going to find their way on anyone's fantasy team soon. Salmons is okay, but just not a top SF, is all. You need players to compete in this League and he is a notch below what you would prefer.
And finally, our project player of tomorrow - Donte Greene. Most experts think he came out a year too soon after only one season at Syracuse. Drafted 28th this spring by Memphis, traded to Houston and then to the Kings as part of the Ron Artest trade, he is raw. But the team envisions him being the small forward of the future. At 6'11" and 226 pounds, visions of Kevin Garnett bounce off the retinas of my rose-colored eyeballs. So why would two teams trade such potential the same off-season while drafting him in the first round to begin with? Apparently that raw talent is real. On offense. Unstoppable is the usual verbige mentioned about his scoring. It also is the usual verbige mentioned about whomever he plays against on defense. You see, he never has been taught anything about how to play defense on the basketball court. Nothing - Nada - zilch. Nary a word. In today's NBA, this constitutes a problem if you, you know, actually want to play basketball ever again in a real NBA game. We will revisit this player perhaps in three years to see if he can find the player he is supposed to defend by then. Of course, on the Kings, his defensive prowess puts him at about the middle of the pack on this team, so we may see quite a bit of him on the court his rookie season.
One final note. Reggie Theus is going to play the majority of his offense this year using the Triangle. He is committing the team to its usage and has instructed his coaches to focus on it full time. The reason for this novelty, at least for the Kings, is last years assist to turnover ratio for the Kings - like last in the League. Once the prettiest team that ever bounced a no-look pass past a befuddled Karl Malone or Shaq, they no longer have apparently practiced how to even hold onto the ball without using Stickum. So the introduction of enemy Laker lore to shore up what Theus calls the stagnant feel on the floor. Without Ron Artest, who is notorious for breaking set plays and relying on isolation play, the Kings now feel the time is right to do something very different - for them.
