Category: Sacramento Kings

Kings Celebrate Breast Cancer Awareness Night in preseason home opener with 95-92 team win over the Spurs

Published on by Michael MartinezLeave a comment

by Michael Martinez

photo credits google images

SACRAMENTO- On a night where the Sacramento Kings honored those effected by breast cancer, they kept all Kings fans happy defeating the San Antonio Spurs, 95-92 at Sleep Train Arena. The win can be attributed to the Kings big 3, Demarcus Cousins, Rajon Rondo and Rudy Gay as well as Willie Cauley-Stein’s defense. The Kings ball movement was outstanding for most of the night and their defense showed signs of improvement as well.

For the Kings it was a tale of odds and evens as they played well in the 1st and 3rd quarters, however their play declined in the 2nd and 4th quarters. Although they started off slow in the 1st quarter, strong shooting by Rudy Gay allowed the Kings to take the lead, 19-14. Gay’s solid shooting, 10 for 13 from the field and 2 for 3 behind the arc in 30 minutes of play, allowed the Kings to hold a lead at the end of the 3rd quarter and maintain it in the 4th quarter even though Gay only played half of the 4th.

When asked about his hot shooting, Gay humbly said “I’ve just been practicing and shooting, doing what NBA players are doing.”

As the Kings played mostly reserves in the 2nd quarter, the Spurs cut into the lead with a 7-0 run after the 1st quarter break. The Kings were not closing out on their defenders and allowed Rasual Butler to score 7 points on 3 consecutive possessions and this allowed the Spurs to come back and tie the game at the half, 47-47.

The Kings came out of the 3rd quarter with fire under their belts and Rajon Rondo really had a chance to shine. After a good 1st quarter and playing very little in the 2nd, Rondo distributed the ball well and ran some uptempo offense in the 3rd that allowed the Kings to get easy points in the paint and open shots behind the three point line. Totaling 4 assists in the first half, Rondo added 6 assists in the 3rd quarter and wound up with 6 points, 10 assists and 8 rebounds almost getting a triple double in almost 25 minutes of play. He also showed tremendous ball handling skills and tossed Gay a big alley-oop to get the crowd pumped up in the 3rd. Rondo rested in the 4th quarter as Coach George Karl decided to keep him off the court.

Gay was asked about Rondo heating up in the 3rd.

He confidently said “That’s what I know he can do, it’s just been a matter of time.”

Rondo was not in present in the locker room for comment.

Demarcus Cousins was the final offensive piece as he totaled a double-double scoring 17 points with 10 boards and 1 assist in 28 minutes of play. In the 3rd, Cousins did a good job of scoring the ball with his usual mid range jumper as he totaled 8 points in the 3rd. Cousins also sat out the 4th quarter as the Kings took an 11 point lead over the Spurs, 78-67.

The 4th quarter was mainly a quarter of reserves similar to the 2nd and it showed when the Kings let the Spurs go on a 10-0 run to start the quarter. The offense looked dormant as Dave Stockton could not move the ball nearly as well as Rondo. The Kings closed out the game after they took a time out following the Spurs big run and Willie Cauley-Stein subbed in helping protect the rim well and get rebounds when needed. Cauley-Stein’s defense was outstanding all night as he held LaMarcus Aldridge to 8 points on 3 of 10 shooting from the field. Cauley-Stein also helped win the game for the Kings with an offensive rebound and kick out to Marco Belinelli who found his shot late and sunk 2 free throws to ultimately give the Kings a W, winning 95-92.

Coach Karl praised Cauley-Stein’s effort when asked about his confidence in their 6th overall draft pick.

Karl said “He’s solid, he’s a good player.”

Even after a win against a playoff caliber team, minus Duncan, Ginobli, Parker, Diaw and Coach Popovich, the Kings can make improvements. The defense can close out even better and their 23 turnovers leading to 24 points may be a point of concern as the regular season approaches. Nonetheless, the win for the Kings is great heading into the regular season as they proved they can close out games and their defense has improved by only allowing 92 points tonight. The Kings are now 2-1 in the preseason.

I would like to finish this article by asking everyone to keep one of our staff members, Jeff Hall, in there thoughts and prayers as he continues to battle for his life in the hospital. We’re pulling for you Jeff and know you are strong.

Suns Reserves Outshine Kings

Published on by Matthew HarringtonLeave a comment

By Matthew T.F. Harrington

The Sacramento Kings fell to the Phoenix Suns 102-98 Wednesday night at the Talking Stick Resort Arena for their first loss of the preseason.

Rudy Gay led the team with 27 points, DeMarcus Cousins had a team-high 8 rebounds and 15 points and Marco Belinelli chipped in 12 points off the bench. Point guard Rajon Rondo, signed in the offseason, scored 5 points on 2 field goals over 5 attempts and added 5 assists. Darren Collison also dropped a quintet of dimes to match the Kings game-high.

In his second season with the Suns, TJ Warren opened his preseason with a hot start. The former North Carolina State forward scored 17 points off the bench. NBA journeyman Jon Leuer also scored 17 points off the pine, picking up a double-double with his game-high 13 rebounds. Guards Brandon Knight (16) and Eric Bledsoe (13) were the only two starters to break double figures in scoring.

The two teams traded leads 11 times, with 10 lead changes coming in the first three quarters. Sacramento held a 3-point lead, 79-76, but the Suns outscored them 26-19 down the stretch to put the Kings preseason record at 1-1 following Monday’s 109-105 overtime win in Portland.

The two teams shot the ball at a 40% clip, but the Suns managed to haul in 55 rebounds to the Kings 46 as the difference maker. The Kings were also outrebounded 52-50 on Monday.

Sacramento gets its first dose of home cooking during the exhibition slate tomorrow night. The Kings return to the Sleep Train Arena to face perennial Western Conference powers San Antonio in the second half of a back-to-back.

Sacramento Kings podcast with Charlie O: After using three different systems last year Kings ready to listen to one from Karl

Published on by lleonardbwLeave a comment

by Charlie O Mallonee

photo credit google images George Karl coach Sac Kings

SACRAMENTO–On the podcast tonight Charlie O talks about the Sacramento Kings in the pre season as they prepare to play their second pre season game on Thursday night at Sleep Train Arena. It is extremely important for the Kings this year because of all the coaching changes last year. They had three different head coaches, they had three different systems.

Head coach George Karl was with them for 30 games at the end of the season he wasn’t really able to fully implement the dribble drive offense he likes to utilize with inside-outside shooting with lots of outside shooting. Those are things that really take time to develop.

This pre season games and the training camp before the start of the regular season are phenomenally important to the Kings. This is where this team is going to become George Karl’s team. The other thing that’s a part of that too is there has been a tremendous turn in the roster.

You have a number of new players into the system and everybody is going to have to jell because their not going to be as familiar with each other. Even though the pre season is always important to get ready for a season. For the Kings this year it is probably doubly important because they have so many things they have to bring together before the regular season.

Charlie O is a beat reporter for the Sacramento Kings http://www.sportsradioservice.com listen to his podcast below

Jeff Hall Sac Kings beat reporter suffers stroke

Published on by lleonardbwLeave a comment

by Charlie O and Michael Martinez Jr

SACRAMENTO–Broadcaster and Sacramento Kings beat reporter Jeff Hall suffered a stroke on Monday while at work and was rushed 911 to an emergency room in Sacramento according to family members. While doctors say he’s fighting to make a comeback. He’s been asked while his eyes have not opened up since Monday to answer a series of questions and answering while squeezing the hands of doctors, nurses and family members.

Jeff who covers the Kings was about to go out on assignment for the first home pre season game at Sleep Train Arena on Thursday night. Jeff is resting at a local Sacramento hospital comfortably and is in the prayers and thoughts of the entire broadcast staff at http://www.sportsradioservice. Jeff has covered the team since the 2014-15 season and took a brake from media coverage after he got married in the late 90s. Altogether Jeff has been in the media since the early 90s and was welcomed back by the staff in 2014.

We’re all praying for a speedy recovery for Jeff

Charlie O and Mike Martinez cover Kings basketball for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Sacramento Kings podcast with Jeff Hall: Team built around Cousins Kings hopes this is their season and beyond

Published on by lleonardbwLeave a comment

by Jeff Hall

photo credit google images Kings GM Vlade Divac

SACRAMENTO–The Kings went through three coaches last season Mike Malone, Ty Corbin and George Karl this year if all goes to plan Karl should be their man. The Kings are looking to make a big statement this year. Also the Kings center DeMarcus Cousins and we were just talking about it minute ago that Cousins isn’t the biggest problem on the team.

It’s not going to be about how the management runs this team it’s going to be about those guys down on the floor and the Kings will see how it goes and how Cousins handles it. He’s got a goal going into this year and he’s going to accomplish his goals whatever goal he makes.

The Kings Rudy Gay will be back at small forward this season and with him teaming up with Cousins that should be a helpful force and after the season that he had last year it should be interesting to see what he does this season. Cousins will be Cousins and Gay will be Gay in what they bring to the game this season.

This could be the season for the Kings and Karl would love to have this season to be the one where the club is headed for a shot at post season and the organization is looking forward to getting into the new arena in October 2016. The Kings general manager Vlade Divac is coming into his second season as Kings general manager and he’s not playing over his head.

Divac was involved in the draft pick as he signed Willie Cauley-Stein and that was Divac’s deal and not former Kings GM Pete D’Alessandro. Divac is not coming into something that he didn’t develop and he’s been part of the signing of Kings guard and forward Marco Belinelli. Divac is providing a new scene especially with the new building Golden 1 Arena going into next season. This is not the old situation for the Kings but just the beginning of new era.

Jeff Hall covers the Sacramento Kings at http://www.sportsradioservice.com listen to the podcast

Kings will open the 2015-16 NBA season at home

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

Sacramento_Kings

by Charlie O. Mallonee

The Sacramento Kings will open the the 2015-16 season at Sleep Train Arena on Wednesday, October 28 versus the Los Angeles Clippers. This will be the Kings final home opener at Sleep Train Arena before moving to the new Golden1 Center next season.

The Kings will play eight of their next 10 games at home which will feature a season-long six game homestand. That homestand will include games with Houston, Golden State, San Antonio, Brooklyn and Toronto.

For Kings fans who would like to see their team play the Warriors in Oakland, the teams will meet on Saturday, November 28 at Oracle Arena.

The Kings will play a game in Mexico City as a part of the NBA Global Games 2015. The Kings will host the Boston Celtics in Ciudad de Mexico, D.F. on Thursday, December 3.

Sacramento will be featured on national TV four times during the season. The Kings will play twice on ESPN – November 6 versus the Rockets and February 24 in San Antonio. They will also broadcast twice on TNT – December 10 against the Knicks in NYC and January 7 versus the Lakers. The Kings will be televised on NBA TV nine times this season.

The Kings longest road trip of the season is a five game slate that begins in Atlanta on Wednesday, November 18 and ends Wednesday, November 25 in Milwaukee.

Sports Radio Service will bring you complete coverage of all 82 regular season games and any potential playoff games on sportsradioservice.com. There will also be a weekly Kings podcast posted on the website.

Kings announce preseason schedule

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

IMG_0897.JPG

by Charlie O. Mallonee

The Sacramento Kings have revealed their 2015 preseason schedule. The Kings will play six preseason games – four on the road and two games at Sleep Train Arena.

The Kings will open the preseason with the Portland Trail Blazers at the Moda Center on Monday, October 5th. That game will be followed by a contest against the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday, October 7th at the Talking Stick Resort Arena in Phoenix.

The Kings only two home exhibition contests will feature games with San Antonio and Portland at Sleep Train Arena. The Spurs will face the Kings on Thursday, October 8th at 7:00 p.m. The Trail Blazers will play the Kings on Saturday, October 10th at 7:00 p.m.

The Kings will travel to Las Vegas on Tuesday, October 13th to play the Los Angeles Lakers at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

Sacramento’s final preseason contest will be a reunion game as the Kings will play the New Orleans Pelicans at the University of Kentucky’s Rupp Arena in Lexington on Saturday, October 17th. DeMarcus Cousins, Willie Cauley-Stein and Rajon Rondo all played their college basket at the University of Kentucky. Anthony Davis of the Pelicans also played for Kentucky.

Kings: another front office change – numbers guru Dean Oliver is out

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

dean oliver

by Charlie O. Mallonee

The Sacramento Kings have terminated the services of Dean Oliver. Who you say? Dean Oliver – the director of player personnel and analytics. Is that a big deal you ask? Yes, it is a big deal.

Dean Oliver is the inventor of APBRmetrics – a statistical method of tracking players, devising game plans and selecting personnel for professional basketball teams. Dean Oliver is to basketball what statistician Bill James (sabermetrics) is to baseball. Oliver puts a mathematical value on all elements of the game to determine what areas of the game are more important than others. For example, is a quick 3-point shot more important than working the ball to the basket for a higher percentage shot?

APBRmetrics attempts to remove the intangibles from the game of basketball. Its goal is to quantify the game and make logical decisions based on solid statistics.

Billy Bean and the Oakland Athletics have famously used Sabemetrics as their guide to help them find success as a “small-market baseball club”.

Former Kings general manager Pete D’Alessandro recruited Oliver to leave the Denver Nuggets and come to Sacramento. Kings majority owner Vivek Ranadive fully supported the hiring of Oliver as a part of his NBA 3.0 initiative. Oliver represents the new 21st Century decision making process.

Oliver was working with the Nuggets when George Karl was the coach in Denver.

D’Alessandro, former advisor Chris Mullin and now Oliver are all gone from the Kings front office. Vlade Divac is now the man in charge and its not good to have been associated with D’Alessandro regime.

There have been reports that Divac has little or no use for analytics preferring to use a more traditional approach to selecting players, game planning and game management. The only problem with that approach is that the NBA is becoming a league driven by analytics.

Every arena is equipped with special cameras to capture the key elements of APBRmetrics so statisticians can review the plays and break the game down into many different elements. The fact is the game can be quantified and teams are gathering that information to make plans to defeat their rivals. Analytics is only going to grow in its importance to NBA teams in the future.

Sacramento had the man who invented the science on their staff, and they just fired him. It is like firing the Wright Brothers as your airplane builders to go with an individual who has never built more than a paper airlplane. The move just does not make any sense.

There are two very prominent NBA teams that do not rely on analytics – the Los Angeles Lakers and the New York Knicks. How well is that working out for those teams?

The world is changing. There will always be a place for evaluating love for the game, motivation and hustle. There is also going to be a place for solid analytics that show what moves are valuable and what moves do not contribute to putting wins up on the board.

Divac is trying to build up his own executive team. Rumors have Peja Stojakovic and Bobby Jackson taking jobs in the Kings front office. It is always good to have trusted teammates on the front line with you, but the Kings also need new, highly trained warriors to help lead them out of the “valley of despair” into land of the playoffs.

Bottom line – letting Dean Oliver walk was not a good basketball move, and it only creates an increasing vision of chaos when it comes to the Kings management team.

Kings sign forward Duje Dukan

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

dukan

by Charlie O. Mallonee

The Sacramento Kings signed a third player on Wednesday. Forward Duje Dukan signed a free agent contract.

Dukan is 6-foot-10 and weighs 218 pounds. He played his college basketball at Wisconsin where Dukan was a part of the NCAA National Championship team. He played four seasons at Wisconsin.

Dukan played for the Kings in the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas. He averaged 9.2 points and 2.4 rebounds per game. Dukan led the Kings’ summer league team in 3-point shooting percentage at .417. He averaged 18 minutes of playing time per contest.

Dukan was one the college players the Kings brought to Sacramento for a pre-draft workout.

Curry signs with Kings

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

seth curry

by Charlie O. Mallonee

Don’t get too excited Kings fans. Seth Curry – Stephen’s brother – has reportedly signed a two-contract worth $2 million with the Sacramento Kings. The story was first reported by Yahoo Sports.

Curry will reportedly have a player option for 2016-17 with the two years guaranteed by the Kings.

Curry was a standout performer at the recently concluded Summer League games in Las Vegas where he played for the New Orleans Pelicans. Reports had the Pelicans pursuing Curry as well.

Curry averaged 25.3 points, 4.2 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 3.5 steals per game while shooting 49-percent from the field in summer league games.

Seth Curry has split his time between the NBA Development League and 10-day NBA contracts for the past two seasons. He has played in Cleveland, Memphis and Phoenix.

He played his college basketball at Duke.

Acy Returns to Kings

Small forward Quincy Acy will reportedly return to the Kings after spending last season with the New York Knicks. Acy played for the Kings in 2013-14.

Acy is a hard working, blue collar type of forward who is known for his tenacious defense. He averaged 5.9 points and 4.4 rebounds per game of the Knicks last season.

Reports have Acy signing a two-year contract.