The current Kings have a pretty decent player in Kevin Martin, but he has a bad ankle that is starting to look like a chronic problem for the rest of this year. Francisco Garcia is a good player, a leader, and feels he should be recognized as better then people give him credit for. Nothing wrong with that, but he sort of should prove that on the court more then every third game. Udruh was given a good sized contract to hold down the point guard job until something better comes along, essentially. He has moments of good to very good basketball, and more moments of bad to very bad point guard play.
Miller, Moore, Jackson - disgruntled veterans all, Miller is likely to get traded either this year or sometime next year as his oversized contract winds down. Moore and Jackson are close to the end anyway.
Which leaves us with our youth movement, and as WOW said, it might prove to be good over time, but a stretch to meet the standards of the Webber/Divac squad.
Spencer Hawes is much better then advertised, especially after a mediocre freshman year. He is in better shape, clearly is coachable, is rebounding and blocking shots to a degree that was not seen in college and was not anticipated, and looks like a good fit once Miller leaves. He is also a superior passer.
Thompson was flat out overlooked coming out of Rider. He is very smart, eager, dives on the floor, and has yet to look overmatched. Still real raw, though.
Donte Greene is still a bit of a mystery. His defense was non-existant at first, but because the Maloofs made it a point to play him more, he looks only semi-lost on that side of the court so far. His offense could be very, very good eventually. His length at the small forward position could be an absolute beast and he wants to model his game after Kevin Garnett. He is close to his size, and both he and Hawes are really young. Greene won't turn 21 till February, and Hawes not until April. Thompson is an oldster at 22. Neither Greene nor Hawes look like they are done growing either - filling out, at any rate.
Along with our surprise PG free agent Bobby Brown, these players are what we are talking about for the future nucleus of the Kings, including Martin and Garcia. But it was ridiculous for the Maloofs to expect much out of them this season, especially on defense. Theus was a pretty good fit for them as they grew into the jobs. Not to give him some time to figure things out, but dumping him like HE was the reason ARCO was not selling out and fans were less interested in the Kings this season then in past years was flat out stupid.
The economic turndown has hit the average Kings' fan really hard and the last thing they are likely to do is spend hundreds of dollars to see them play right now. It certainly would help if the Kings could win a game or two at home, which irks the heck out of them more then anything, but to be really fair, I would have thought the Maloofs would have tried to HELP him, through Petrie, instead of jumping on his back with daggers out and leaping up to shout they have killed the cause of the team's problems and now everything will turn around, so all you disgruntled fans can flock back to ARCO.
What elitist!!
