Category: NBA

Sacramento Kings podcast with Charlie O: Lawson might be off the hook for oversleeping and missing the flight to Lexington

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AP file photo: Ty Lawson (10) of the Sacramento Kings drives on the Los Angeles Lakers Jose Calderon (5) during an exhibition game Tue Oct 4th the same two teams meet again Tuesday night at Staples Center

The situation concerning the Sacramento Kings Ty Lawson’s missing the flight from Las Vegas to Lexington might be all forgiven Lawson and the Kings played the Washington Wizards last Saturday in Kentucky and on Thursday the 13th the Kings were in Vegas playing the Los Angeles Lakers and apparently Lawson overslept and missed the plane to Kentucky. It was to a point where the Kings were considering cutting Lawson from the team.

After much soul searching the Kings reconsidered and will keep Lawson around a little longer, he’s listed as active for Tuesday night’s game in Los Angeles with the Lakers. It looks like everything is going to be okay. The Kings are kind of taking the stance “move along, move along, there’s nothing to see here.” This is not a total surprise one of the reasons why Lawson and a guy with his kind of skills was available to the Kings was the fact that he had a horrible year last year and one of the reasons why he had such a horrible years was it was based around some very bad behavior. He needs to get back on track and help this team out and get in the community to improve his image.

Charlie O has all of the very latest on the Sacramento Kings at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

Ty Lawson misses the plane and now may miss a roster spot

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ty

by Charlie O. Mallonee

Kings guard Ty Lawson did not play in the game on Saturday night in Kentucky against the Washington Wizards. His reason for not playing was listed as “personal reasons” not “coach’s decision”.

It turns out that the personal reason was Lawson had missed the plane in Las Vegas and he never made it to Lexington. This came on the heels of him being late to practice on Thursday. This story was first reported by Marc Stein of ESPN.

Trouble has followed Lawson in recent times. He has been arrested four times for driving under the influence including two arrests in 2015. Lawson did not last the full season with the Houston Rockets who released him in March. Rumor had him headed to Sacramento then but Lawson ultimately finished the season with the Indiana Pacers.

Lawson’s past is what made him available when the Kings went looking for help while Darren Collison served his suspension for the domestic assault incident. At the time Sacramento signed Lawson, they did not know how many games they would be without Collison which they now know is eight games. Many people felt Collison was facing a suspension of 25-plus games.

Lawson was signed to a one-year, non-guaranteed contract in hopes that Lawson would put his past behind him and return to being the player he was in Denver when he was star for the Nuggets. Kings head coach Dave Joerger has been full of praise for Lawson especially for his speed going north to south on the floor.

The Kings will meet with Lawson and decide what his future will be with the team. The team did sign veteran point guard Jordan Farmar as a potential fill in for Collison. Farmar played for Joerger in Memphis last season. The Kings also have rookie Isaiah Cousins who they drafted in the second-round and has a partially guaranteed contract.

The Kings will probably keep one veteran point guard to run the second unit and if they are happy with Cousins, keep him on the roster and shuttle him between Sacramento and the D-League team in Reno. Who plays and who is not present at the final preseason game on Tuesday night versus the Los Angeles Clippers may answer some of the questions that now exist because of Lawson’s situation.

Golden State Warriors Saturday game wrap: Talent thick Warriors drub former assistant coach’s Lakers 112-107

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by Jerry Feitelberg

AP file photo: Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr in Oct 14th photo is happy for his former assistant coach Luke Walton who is now head coach at the Los Angeles Lakers faced each other in their pre season game against the Los Angeles Lakers at T-Mobile Center Las Vegas on Saturday night

The Golden State Warriors took off with a furry when they ran a 23-9 score up on the Los Angeles Lakers at T-Mobile Center in Las Vegas Saturday night. It wouldn’t take much longer when the W’s inflated that lead to 30 points. That wasn’t all the W’s shooting from the floor was a satisfying 54.3 and they hit their targets beyond the perimeter at 43.5 in the 112-107 exhibition victory.

The Warriors grabbed for the gusto in rebounding over the Lakers 43-38 and had 29 assists and 44 field goals. They picked up from where they left off from last season with another strong talented team assembled. The Warriors also rested many of their starters handling the Lakers and they did it all without Draymond Green, Andre Iguodala, or David West each had the game off by Warriors head coach Steve Kerr’s decision to give them some rest.  Even Klay Thompson (24), Kevin Durant (17), and Stephen Curry (14) didn’t play over 22 minutes in the contest.

The Lakers head coach Luke Walton who was the Warriors head interim coach last season while Kerr was rehabilitating his bad back said that he’s now trying to develop the Lakers player personnel along the same lines when he was at Golden State, “I’m tying to build same culture down here. Obviously it’s different. It’s a different point were at with the youth that we have and new coaches.” said Walton

Walton went onto guide Golden State last season in Kerr’s absence to a 39-4 record and what sold him was that impressive 24-0 start at the beginning of last season Walton had played for the Lakers for eight of his ten seasons in the NBA. The temptation was too great and the offer was too good by his former organization to take the helm at the Lakers and leave his assistant position at Golden State and his former boss at the Warriors Kerr.

After Kobe Bryant’s retirement last season Walton is looking at building around the core players in Los Angeles of D’Angelo Russell, Julius Randle, Jordan Clarkson, and Brandon Ingram. At this juncture of the season and with just two weeks until the Lakers opener Walton is still pushing the fundamentals of the offense and defense systems. “Were all going to miss him, but were all happy for him” said Kerr “I know he wouldn’t have taken any other job except the Laker job to leave Golden State. I’m glad we’re in the same division, so at least we’ll be able to see each other four times a year, plus pre season.” said Kerr

For Kerr it won’t be a long wait to see Walton again as the Warriors face the Lakers on Wednesday.

Jerry Feitelberg covers Warriors basketball catch his game recaps home and away at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

Kings beat the Wizards 124-119 to wrap up “Big Blue Madness Weekend”

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wcs-dmc-wall

Photo credit: Charles Bertram Lexington Herald – Leader

by Charlie O. Mallonee

The Sacramento Kings and Washington Wizards met in a NBA preseason game to wrap up the “Big Blue Madness Weekend” which kicks off the NCAA basketball season for the Kentucky Wildcats. The game featured four former Wildcats – DeMarcus Cousins, Willie Cauley-Stein, Skal Labissiere and the Wizards’ John Wall.

The Kings won the game 124-119 for those who care and there were many people in Kentucky who did not seem to care. The Rupp Arena where the game was played has a seating capacity of 23,000 for basketball. Basketball fans in the Lexington area have to drive three hours (192 miles) west to Indianapolis to see a NBA game, so you would think a game in their own backyard would be a big draw. You would be wrong. Just 8,472 people showed up to see a game that featured four former Wildcat professional players.

The score will tell you that the game was not one that featured much in the way of defense. In fact, the final score has more in common with the 2015-16 Kings than it does with the new edition under the guidance of Dave Joerger.

The Kings were led in scoring by DeMarcus Cousins and Darren Collison who put up 22 points each. Before getting too excited, do not forget that Collison will not be with the Kings for the first eight games of the season while he serves his NBA mandated suspension.

Omri Casspi scored 16 points in 22 minutes on the floor while Willie Cauley-Stein put up 12 points, grabbed five rebounds, had four steals and added one block shot in his 22 minutes of playing time. Lamar Patterson scored 14 points in 12 minutes of playing time coming off the bench.

Ben McLemore got the start at shooting guard in the game and played a team-high 29 minutes but had a tough game. He scored just eight points- five in the first half which came with less than two minutes to play and three points in the second half. McLemore shot just 2-for-6 from the floor and was 0-for-1 from beyond the 3-point line. He was a perfect 4-for-4 from the free throw line. Joerger is giving McLemore the playing time but young guard does not seem to be giving the needed production back in return.

Sacramento shot an impressive 60.0-percent (42-for-70) from the floor and were an outstanding 9-for-19 (47.4-percent) from 3-point land. The Kings went 31-for-38 (81.6-percent) from the charity stripe. They had 26 assists but turned the ball over 27 times. The Kings out-rebounded the Wizards 40-32.

The Wizards shot 48.5-percent (47-for-97) from the field and went 8-for-31 (25.8-percent) from beyond the 3-point line. Andrew Nicholson was their leading scorer with 19 points. John Wall – who is recovering from knee surgery – played 22 minutes and scored 11 points.

Kings head coach Dave Joerger started all three of his former Kentucky players – Cousins, Cauley-Stein and Skal Labissiere. Labissiere went scoreless in 16 minutes on the floor but did haul in four rebounds, block two shots and got two steals.

The Kings Rudy Gay, Ty Lawson, Arron Afflalo, Isaiah Cousins and Matt Barnes were held out of the game by head coach Dave Joerger for rest and to give others playing time.

The Kings are now 3-2 in the preseason and will play their final warm up contest on Tuesday night in Sacramento against the Los Angeles Clippers. The first game of regular season will be played on Wednesday, October 26 in Phoenix.

Golden State Warriors Friday game wrap: Quick Draw McCaw andThe Dubs win a thriller in Overtime, Down the Nuggets at the buzzer.

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by Jerry Feitelberg

AP photo: Golden State Warriors Patrick McCaw is defended by the Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray in the second half of Friday night’s contest at Denver

Denver- The Golden State Warriors, playing their fourth game of the pre-season and the first since October 6th, won a thriller beating the Denver Nuggets in Denver Friday night by a score of 129-128.

Warrior rookie, Partick McCaw who was a second-round draft pick, scored eighteen points and saved the Dubs bacon twice. McCaw hit a three-point shot with just one second left in regulation to tie the game at 112 each. McCaw’s performance in overtime was sensational. He single-handedly kept the Warriors from going down to defeat. McCaw hit two three-point shots and a two-pointer in the five-minute OT period. He saved his best shot for last as he hit a running floater at the buzzer to secure the win for the Dubs. The coaches must have been thrilled with his performance, and he appears to be winning a spot on the roster.

The scoring leaders for Golden State were the usual suspects. Steph Curry knocked down twenty-two in twenty-seven minutes of action. Kevin Durant added nineteen and Klay Thompson scored seventeen.  Danilo Gallinari led Denver with nineteen and teammates Jamal Murray and Jamell Stokes contributed sixteen points each in a losing effort.

The game was close all throughout the contest. Golden State led 59-54 at the half. Denver led at the end of three. The Dubs closed to 89-88 with just 39 seconds played in the fourth but Denver pulled away and led by three 112-109 when McCaw came through with the clutch 3-pointer.  The stat sheet shows how close the game was. Virtually every category was even. Golden State shot 45.9% from the floor while Denver’s percentage was 46.3%.The Nuggets had a slight edge in three-point percentage 41.4% to 40.5% Denver snatched 68 rebounds to edge the Dubs 61. Both teams turned the ball over sixteen times.

The Dubs are 3-1 so far in pre-season play. The travel to Las Vegas to square off against the Los Angeles Lakers Saturday night and then play the Lakers again Wednesday night. The Warriors play their final pre-season game on October 21st before opening the season against the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday, October 25th at the Oracle Arena.

 

Sacramento Kings-LA Lakers post game wrap Thursday: DeMarcus-less Kings pull out a shocker over Lakers in 116-104 win in Vegas

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AP photo: The Sacramento Kings Rudy Gay (8) drives down the court defended by the Los Angeles Lakers Brandon Ingram (14) at the T-Mobile Center in Las Vegas on Thursday night

by Jessica Kwong

Sacramento Kings dominated the Los Angeles Lakers in the first half, lost almost all their ground in the third quarter but managed to pull away in the fourth for a 116-104 win at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Thursday night.

 As with the preseason opener in which the teams faced each other in Anaheim, the Kings took an early lead and the Lakers caught up. But unlike the Oct. 4 game, the Kings were able to fend off the Lakers’ second quarter push.

 DeMarcus Cousins and Ty Lawson had the night off.

 Sacramento led at the end of the first quarter, 30-26.

 The Kings widened their lead to 18 points at the half, and Darren Collison had 14 points.

 The Lakers rallied in the third quarter and the Kings gave up 36 points, reducing their lead to 82-80 at the end of the quarter.

 But in the fourth quarter, the Kings held the Lakers to 24 points to take the victory.

 Tolliver finished with 21 points, from making all three of his three-point attempts off the bench. Collison finished with 20 points on 8-of-13 from the field and 7 assists, while Rudy Gay finished with 19 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists.

 Sacramento’s three-headed attack at the guard was effective on the Lakers.

Arron Afflalo contributed 16 points and former Laker Jordan Farmar had a solid night as well, posting 14 points off the bench.

 Kings guard Garrett Temple remains on the injured list with a sore back.

 With Thursday’s victory, Sacramento is 2-2 in the preseason. The young Lakers team holds a 2-3 record. The California teams do not face each other again in the preseason.

 Tip-off for the Kings’ game versus the Washington Wizards at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky is 4 p.m. on Saturday.

 

Sacramento Kings podcast with Charlie O: Kings new Golden One Arena a new splash for downtown Sac; plus look at new players

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AP photo: The Sacramento Kings Omri Casspi (left) drives to the basket against Maccabi Haifa’s Orlando Mendiz-Veldez in the second half at Golden One Arena Monday in the first NBA pre season game in the new arena

On the podcast with Charlie O:

Monday was the first day of the Sacramento Kings played at Golden One Arena in downtown Sacramento and what a first impression it was for the fans, players, media, sponsors and the organization. The Kings opened up their home pre season schedule against the Israeli team. The Kings also have some new players on the roster that were going to take a look at. Also a look at the rookies and who might make the roster and who impressed most on Monday night. Also a look at Kings new head coach Dave Yeager and what’s coming up for the Kings.

 

The Kings open the Golden 1 Center with win over Maccabi Haifa 135-96

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g1c

by Charlie O. Mallonee

The Sacramento Kings played their first game in the new Golden 1 Center on Monday night hosting the Maccabi Haifa Greens of the Israeli Elite League in a preseason affair. Frankly, the outcome of the game really did not matter to thousands of fans who filed into the arena for game.

The long-suffering Kings fans are so happy to enter a building that is truly a dream come true they can hardly contain themselves. No one thought the Kings were going to have a new arena in Sacramento let alone a building in the downtown that is literally transforming a city center that has been a “ghost town” after 5:00 PM into a thriving night spot.

Beyond the pure excitement of the watching basketball in the new facility that insures the Kings will be in Sacramento for the next 30 years, there was a preseason basketball game played on Monday night. The game was very important to the coaching staff and the players. Especially to the young players and the players who are out on the edge fighting for a roster spot when the regular season begins on October 26th.

If you are a college basketball fan, this game was like an early season match up between a Division I team and Division II school to kick off the season. The Division I school wants some decent competition but it also wants to be able to test players deep on the bench. The Division II school is looking to play up to challenge themselves in order to make themselves better for the upcoming season.

The Kings wanted to look at some players that will not be able to get floor time once the regular season begins except when there is a blowout win or loss. Coach Joerger wants these players ready in case they are needed because of injury to players higher in the rotation or if new blood is needed to give the team a shot in the arm.

Maccabi Haifa begins their regular season next week in Israel. The Greens were looking to up their game as they get ready for their opponents in the Elite League.

Both teams accomplished their goals. The Kings crushed the Greens 135 – 96. Sacramento was expected to dominate the game. Maccabi Haifa is a professional team staffed with talented players. They just are not NBA level talent. Anything less than a dominate win would have been perceived as a loss for the Kings.

Kings head coach Dave Joerger said in his pregame press conference that he wanted his team to “play hard, play together and not get hurt.” That is exactly what they did against their opponents on Monday night.

Ben McLemore was the Kings leading scorer with 18 points in 24 minutes on the floor. Anthony Tolliver scored 14 in 16 minutes. Cousins put up 14 points in 17 minutes. Ty Lawson scored 14, Rudy Gay 11, Darren Collison 11 and Kosta Koufos nine in limited minutes of playing time.

Two of the Kings rookies saw significant playing time in the second half. Forward Skal Labissiere played 17 minutes and scored 10 points.He also had two rebounds, two steals and two blocks. Guard Malachi Richardson put up nine points in 12 minutes of playing time. He grabbed three rebounds and had two assists.

Only two Kings players did not play on Monday night. Matt Barnes and Isaiah Cousins did not see any action.

After the game, Coach Joerger was happy with the way his team played and responded to their coaches. He also indicated that the entire team was excited to be in Sacramento and to have a chance to play in their new building.

The Kings will now get ready to go out on the road. They will play the Lakers on Thursday night in Las Vegas and then have a “home game” in Rupp Arena on the campus of the University of Kentucky on Saturday night against the Washington Wizards.

Golden State Warriors Thursday game wrap: The Warriors down the Kings 105-96

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by Jerry Feitelberg

AP photo: Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors raises his hands in delight as head coach Steve Kerr (right) is thrilled with the Warriors play against the Sacramento Kings on at SAP Center on Thursday night

SAN JOSE–The Golden State Warriors overcame a five-point halftime deficit to beat the Sacramento Kings 105-96 at the SAP Center Thursday night. The Dubs played their third pre-season game and had to work to defeat the Kings. Kings’ center DeMarcus Cousins led the Sacramento attack with twenty points, and Dubs’ center Zaza Pachulia had his hands full trying to contain the big man. Warriors’ coach Steve Kerr continued to play his regulars for about twenty-five minutes as they try to get Kevin Durant to adapt to the motion game that the Warriors feature.

Durant played twenty-six minutes and scored twenty-five points. Steph Curry also played 26 minutes, and he added thirteen to the Dubs’ attack. Klay Thompson and Draymond Green played 25 minutes, and Klay tallied eleven. Patrick McCaw and Ian Clark performed well coming off the bench. McCaw scored 8 and Clark poured in 16.

The stats were very even for the teams. The Kings shot 42.2% from the floor while the Dubs came in at 44.3%. The Kings shot 46.2% from three-point range, and the Warriors came in at 42.9%. Sacramento committed 22 turnovers contrasted the Dubs 24.  Golden State had the edge in fast-break points 33-14 while the Kings had a 32-22  edge in the points in the paint category.

The Warriors play the next three pre-season games on the road. They meet the Denver Nuggets on October 14th in Denver. They play the LA Lakers on Saturday the 15th and then again on the 19th.

Sacramento Kings Thursday game wrap: Kings Fall 105-96

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By Tony Renteria

AP photo: The Sacramento Kings Anthony Tolliver shoots over the Golden State Warriors Draymond Green in Thursday’s pre season action at SAP Arena

SAN JOSE–In the Second preseason game for our Sacramento Kings  (0-1) they fell to defending west coast champions Golden State Warriors (1-1) 105-96.   The Kings were looking to flex their new defensive muscle under new head coach Dave Joreger but failed to do so in the second half.

The Kings gave up 28 points in the third and another 27 in the fourth quarter as the defense failed to keep pace with the offense.

Kevin Durant scored 25 points in under 27 minutes as the Warriors continued to show the NBA they are the team to beat this season.

The Kings were lead by All Star DeMarcus Cousins who match Durant’s scoring by minute as he dropped 20 points in under 22 minutes himself.

The Kings play host Monday to the Israeli National Team as they continue the eventful preseason.