Category: Sacramento Kings

Timberwolves down the Kings 108-97

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

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Photo credit: Rocky Widner NBAE/Getty Images

By Charlie O. Mallonee

The Minnesota Timberwolves defeated the Sacramento Kings 108-97 on Saturday night. The Kings lost because they played inconsistent defense and did not take care of the basketball.

DeMarcus Cousins returned to the Kings’ lineup after serving his one game suspension on Friday night. Cousins posted his 35th double-double of the season scoring 21 points and grabbing 17 rebounds. Cousins’ outstanding performance was not enough to make up for the lack of defense.

Rudy Gay had two entirely different basketball games. In the first half, Gay scored 22 points to help give his team a 56-53 halftime lead. In the second half, he scored only two points. That lack of scoring by Gay did not help the Kings who struggled especially in the third quarter.

Isaiah Thomas put up 22 points and dished out eight assists. Down the stretch, Thomas played in the backcourt with Ray McCallum (nine points) running the point. The two guards worked well together.

“The big three” (Cousins, Gay and Thomas) were the only Kings to score in double figures.

Kevin Martin was the scoring leader for the Timberwolves with 26 points. Martin’s night was similar to Gay’s as he scored 19 in the first half and just seven points in the second half.

Kevin Love posted 22 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists. Love 12 for 14 from the free throw line.

Nikola Pekovic scored 20 points and pulled down nine rebounds. Corey Brewer scored 13 points.

Turnovers killed the Kings on Saturday night. Sacramento turned the ball over 19 times and that resulted in Minnesota scoring 27 points off those turnovers.

The other area that helped the Kings to lose was the lack of scoring in the third quarter. Sacramento was outscored 31-14 in the third period. A team cannot win in the NBA scoring 14 points in a quarter.

Despite the horrible third quarter, the Kings cut the Timberwolves lead to just two points with less than three minutes to play. Turnovers and poor fastbreak decisions allowed the Timberwolves to open up the eventual nine point lead.

After the game when asked why his team lost, Kings Head Coach Michael Malone said, “Turnovers – (we) continue to beat ourselves.” Malone cited inconsistent defense as another major contributor to his team’s loss.

With the win, Minnesota’s record improved to 29-29. The loss dropped the Kings record to 20-39 for the 2013-14 season. Sacramento has now lost three games in a row.

The Kings will have Sunday off and will host the New Orleans Pelicans on Monday night.

Lakers edge out the Kings 126-122

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Photo credit: NBAE/Getty Images

By Charlie O. Mallonee

It was “old school” NBA at Staples Arena on Friday night as the Los Angeles Lakers downed the Sacramento Kings 126-122. If you love offense, you loved this game. Both teams shot better than 50% from the field. There were no defensive highlights. The game was all about 3-pointers, assists and fast breaks.

The Lakers shot 70.4% (19/27) from beyond the 3-point arc. That is not a misprint. Los Angeles shot 70.4% from 3-point land. The Lakers shot 60.0% (48/60) for the game, but it was their 3-point shooting that ultimately won the game.

The Kings shot 50.5% (47/93) overall in the contest. Sacramento shot a mere 33.3% (5/15) for 3-pointers. They shot 71.9% (23/32) from the free throw line.

With DeMarcus Cousins unavailable due to suspension, the Kings needed to play as a team and step up to the task of facing the Lakers. Rudy Gay led the charge scoring 30 points and shooting 50.0% from the field. Gay also pulled down seven rebounds, recorded 5 assists, two steals and one blocked shot.

Isaiah Thomas scored 26 points from the point guard position and shot 62.5% (10/16) for field goals. Thomas dished out eight assists. There have been those who questioned whether the Kings should re-sign Thomas. A better question is how can the Kings afford not to re-sign Thomas?

Derek Williams started at power forward and pumped in 26 points for Sacramento. Williams posted a double-double by also grabbing 12 rebounds. Jason Thompson scored 17 points and added 11 rebounds for a double-double of his own.

The Lakers were led by Jordan Farmar who scored a career high 30 points coming off the bench. The former UCLA star shot 80.0% (8/10) from beyond the 3-point line. His play is why Los Angeles came back in fourth period to win the game.

Marshon Brooks hit for 23 points. Pau Gasol and Jodie Meeks each tallied 22 points apiece versus the Kings. The Lakers bench scored 58 points in the game.

The Kings flew home after the game and will face the Minnesota Timberwolves at Sleep Train Arena on Saturday night.

Kings arena update: Mayor ecstatic over judge ruling on subsidy ballots

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by Ken Gimblin

SACRAMENTO–On Thursday’s ruling by Superior Court Judge Timothy Frawley to throw out some 22,000 petiiton ballots that would have had forced a public vote on a new Kings arena, Frawley ruled that the ballots had flawed wording. This ruling was consistent with Sacramento City Clerk Shirley Concolino’s assesment that the legal wording for the petitions were flawed and the ballots invalid.

Anti arena group Voters for a Fair Arena Deal chose not to appeal the Frawley decision due to cost and said although they disagree with the ruling they will have to live with the decision, “We concluded that in the final ruling went against us, we would not appeal, we disagree with the lower courts decision, but appeals are expensive and typically it is a difficult matter overturning a factual ruling by the lower court.” said Craig Powell spokesman for Fair Arena.

Also it was Fair Arena who filed a lawsuit suing Concolino and the City Clerk’s office for saying the petitions were invalid, Frawley dismissed that suit on Wednesday. Meanwhile non union contract workers who had sided wtih Sacramento Taxpayers Opposed to Pork or STOP and Fair Arena the two anti arena groups, the non union contractors withdrew their financing of the lawsuit after Frawley’s decision. The non union contractors filed the suit after the city wanted to hire only union contractors to work on the arena leaving the non union group out.

“It’s unfortunate that the will of the poeple had to be thwarted because the T’s weren’t crossed and the I’s weren’t dotted” Said Eric Christen spokesman for the non-union contractors. STOP spokesman Julian Camacho has not made a final decision against an appeal but acknowledged that going forward would be expensive and timely, “the final, final decision by our group hasn’t been made” said Camacho

STOP has until the end the business day on Friday to decide if they want to pursue the appeal because the deadline is on Monday to get an appellate decision to get the issue on the June ballot. With the deadline closing in the odds are not very good that STOP will get an appeal in by that time, “I think the issue is the timing and financing, it’s pretty tight” said Camacho.

STOP and Camacho released their own written appeal to the voters of Sacramento urging them for the right of the people to be heard on these 22,000 petitions, “we call on the Scaramento’s disenfranchised voters to express their outrage to their City Council; and we call on our elected representatives to begin listening to their contstituents, it is not too late for the city’s arena deal to receieve the public scruntiny and debate that it deserves.”

Meanwhile Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson who said earlier that the petitions had the smell of stench, said that he his jubilant over the judge’s decision, “time and time again, outsiders have tried to undermine the right of Sacramento to control the destiny of our Kings, our downtown and our future, time and time again, we have stepped up to the challenge and stood tall. Today is no exception” said Johnson.

Ken Gimblin is covering the Sacramento Kings and Golden State Warriors arena developments for Sportstalk radio

Kings win big in Denver 109-95

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Photo credit: media.corp.yahoo.com

By Charlie O. Mallonee

As the Sacramento Kings prepared to play the Nuggets in Denver, there were a number of questions that needed to be answered. Would DeMarcus Cousins be able to play after tweaking is hip from carrying Kris Humphries on his back during the entire Boston game on Saturday? How would the play in the second game of a back-to-back in the high altitude and thin air of Denver? How would the Nuggets play with only 10 players available? Would any of this prove to be a factor in determining who won the game?

The Kings were able to overcome a four point halftime deficit by scoring 61 points in the second half to down the Nuggets 109-95. The win gave the Kings a two game winning streak and built momentum for Sacramento as they ready themselves for Houston on Tuesday at home.

DeMarcus Cousins was able to start the game and scored 11 points in nine plus minutes of playing time in the first quarter. After some rest on the bench, Cousins added four points in the second quarter for 15 points in the first half. Cousins did not let up in the second half and finished with 27 points while shooting 50% (8/16) from the field.

Rudy Gay posted a double-double for the Kings as he scored 32 points and pulled down 11 rebounds. Isaiah Thomas put up 33 points and added six assist.

The Kings jumped out to an early lead in the first quarter, but the Nuggets started using the fast break and pulled up even 27-27 after one quarter of play.

The Nuggets came out strong in the second quarter. After putting an 8-0 run, Denver was able to up its lead to 13 points before the Kings began to work their way back into the game. Sacramento used five rebounds by the newly acquired Reggie Evans and five quick points from Isaiah Thomas to close the scoring gap. At halftime, the Kings had reduced the Nuggets lead to just four points, 52-48.

The one glaring stat from the first half was Sacramento’s 12 turnovers. Coach Michael Malone has been calling on his team to reduce the turnovers and the points off turnovers.

The Kings came out after halftime ready to play. Sacramento went on an early 10-0 run, and it was off to the races. The Kings would go on to outscore the Nuggets 35-18 in the third quarter. It was the play of the big three – Cousins, Gay and Thomas – that was the key to opening the 17 point third quarter lead. Ben McLemore was not scoring but was hustling on defense and contributing to the game.

Denver played better ball in the fourth quarter as the Kings second unit saw more action, but it was too little, too late. The Nuggets outscored the Kings 25-22 in the fourth to make the final score Sacramento 109 Denver 95.

In the postgame press conference, Kings Head Coach Michael Malone was obviously happy with his team and with the win. The one point of emphasis on the negative side was the 21 points scored off 21 turnovers. Malone pointed out that his team would have to do better versus Houston on Tuesday in Sacramento.

Kings fight off the Celtics 105-98

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Photo credit: Rocky Widner NBAE/Getty Images

By Charlie O. Mallonee

The Sacramento Kings defeated the Boston Celtics 105-98 Saturday night before a sellout crowd of 17,137 at Sleep Train Arena. There were no lead changes in the game and the contest was tied only once. That is not to say it was an easy win for the Kings.

The Celtics came in and played a very physical game and cut the Kings lead to just one point twice in the fourth quarter. After a slow start in the first quarter, Boston did not look like a team who had lost to the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday. Even after shooting a horrible 34% in the first half, the Celtics would not give up.

The battle of the night was the match up of Kris Humphries and DeMarcus Cousins. Humphries just draped himself over Cousins, and the officials allowed him to do so until late in the game. Cousins scored just 13 points and grabbed just seven rebounds. The Kings center played the entire game in a state of controlled frustration with the lack of calls against Humphries.

Rudy Gay and Isaiah Thomas led the way for the Kings. Gay scored 22 points in the game after being held scoreless in the first quarter. Isaiah Thomas recorded a double-double scoring 21 points and dishing out 12 assists. But, the two Kings’ stars did not win the game on their own. Seven Kings scored in double figures versus Boston.

Jeff Green and Kris Humphries led the charge for the Celtics. Green led all scorers in the game with his 29 points. Humphries scored 19 shooting 9 for 15 from the field. Jerryd Bayless added 16 points for Boston off the bench.

The Kings shot very well versus the Celtics. Sacramento shot 52.1% (38 for 73) from the field. They shot 55.6% (5 for 9) from beyond the 3-point line. The Kings also helped themselves from the free throw line hitting 85.7% (24 for 28) of their opportunites. They were out rebounded 42-38 and turned the ball over 18 times to just 14 times for Boston.

The Kings played tough on defense as well. The Celtics shot just 39.1% (34 for 87) from the field. They shot just 28.6% (6 for 21) from 3-point land. Boston was a dismal 66.7% (24 for 36) from the free throw line.

“It was a weird game,” said Kings Head Coach Michael Malone. “We were trying to keep our composure out there. Obviously, we benefitted from Gerald Wallace and their coach thrown out at the end. It gave us a couple of extra free throws. It’s a physical game, and we can’t let people get under our skin and get in the way of what we’re trying to do. We defended at a fairly high level for most of the night, but we put them on the foul line way too many times. Once again, there were 18 turnovers for 19 points – that continues to be a problem for us. It was a great game for Isaiah Thomas – he tied his career high assists and only had four turnovers. We’ll take the win but we have to get a lot better.”

It was the new look Kings that won the game on Saturday night. Ben McLemore played 27 minutes and scored 11 points while shooting 44.4% from the field. Derrick Williams and Carl Landry each scored 10 points in their 24 minutes of playing time. Ray McCallum played 11 minutes as the second unit point guard. Expect to see more of the same over the next 27 games.

Newcomer Reggie Evans was on the bench but did not see any action.

Rajon Rondo was not with the Celtics in Sacramento. The team reported Rondo needed rest.

The Kings have no time to savor their victory. The have to play the second game of a back-to-back on Sunday afternoon in Denver  the against the Nuggets.

Kings downtown arena: Judge says too many errors will likely keep subsidy measure off the ballot

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by Ken Gimblin

SACRAMENTO–In what is viewed as probably the biggest victory since the NBA Board of Governors ruled in favor of Sacramento keeping the Kings and avoiding their move to Seattle, a Sacramento Superior Court Judge, Timothy Frawley has said that there were too many flaws in the petitions that were submitted to put an inititative on the ballot asking the voters if public subsidy funds should be used to pay for a new Kings arena.

The 22,938 more than qualified ballots for the initiative appear to be going down to defeat as Frawley said if there were some very minor worded errors he might be able to admit the petitions but there too many flaws and the subsidy measure appears it won’t make the June 2014 ballot, “these petitions are defective in a multitude of ways, collectively there are so many errors” said Frawley to a packed courtroom on Friday.

Frawley concluded the 90 minute hearing and returned to his chambers and will render a decision next week and maybe as soon as Monday or Tuesday. The pro arena groups, the city leaders and supporters of the Kings new arena are cautiously celebrating but are waiting for Frawley’s official decision coming next week.

Frawley said among the errors made the two key errors were that the campaign leaders left their names off the legal required notice which was published in the Sacramento Observer, the campaign letters in the Observer were letting the public know that the petitions were about to circulated and the second issue left out was an “enacting clause” which was suppose to be on the petition to allow the voters know this would become law.

Sacramento City Attorney James Sanchez said that the court statement was a near ruling for victory for the Kings and the city and such a subsidy question not appearing on the ballot would certainly allow the Kings and city to move forward with the new arena, “we appreciate (Judge Frawley’s) thoughtfulness, and that gives us a measure of confidence” said Sanchez

Sacramento Taxpayers Opposed to Pork or STOP attorney Brad Hertz said that although Frawley talked about a multitude of flaws and errors in the wording of the petitions Hertz plans to fight the case until a decision is made by the court, “It’s never over until it’s over, but we were disappointed with some of the priliminary findings, certainly there were no conclusive findings. There were preliminary adverse rulings on some of the mistakes.”

Hertz and STOP realize that if Frawley rules in favor of keeping the measure off the ballot then STOP would plan to appeal. Frawley needs to rule before March 3 so that the city and the Kings can place the new arena issue on the June 2014 election.

Ken Gimblin is covering the Sacramento Kings and Golden State Warriors arena developments for Sportstalk radio

Lee, Warriors roll past Kings

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By Joe Hawkes

SACRAMENTO — With the All-Star break a thing of the past, the stretch run towards the playoffs has officially begun.

The Golden State Warriors know that very well.

With center Andrew Bogut sitting out his fifth-straight game with a left shoulder injury, the Warriors needed a late Andre Iguodala three-point play to cruise to a 101-92 victory over the Kings Wednesday night at Sleep Train Arena.

Golden State (32-22), had five players score in double figures, led by David Lee’s 23 points and 11 rebounds. Lee recorded his 17th 20 point/10 rebound game of the season. Klay Thompson (18 points) and Stephen Curry (13 points,) combined to shoot 11-for-28 from the field (2-for-7 from 3-point range).

Iguodala finished with 13 points, Draymond Green scored 12 points and grabbed eight rebounds, while Jordan Crawford got the bench really rolling with 10 points in nine minutes in the first quarter.

The telling part of the game was how the Warriors passed the ball tremendously with 26 assists and only seven turnovers. Those numbers were instrumental in Golden State holding a 52-5 edge on fast break points. Curry finished with a team-high eight assists.

Isaiah Thomas had 26 points and seven assists, Travis Outlaw finished with 18 points off the bench, and Rudy Gay scored 16 points and grabbed eight rebounds (four offensive) for Sacramento (18-35), who played without star center DeMarcus Cousins who sat out with a left hip flexor he injured in the Kings’ final game before the All-Star break.

Quincy Acy pulled down a career-high 12 rebounds.

Sacramento erased a 15-point deficit before taking their first lead in the third quarter at 76-75 behind Thomas’s 12 points in the quarter, but Sacramento couldn’t stop Lee and the Warriors in the fourth quarter, with the Warriors out-scoring the Kings 26-16.

As the 3:00 p.m. EST trade deadline looms, both the Warriors and Kings pulled off trades, but the Warriors trade was the biggest to boot.

Sacramento shipped swingman Marcus Thornton to Brooklyn for veteran shooting guard Jason Terry and power forward Reggie Evans early Wednesday, while Golden State waved good-bye to Kent Bazemore and MarShon Brooks and acquired reliable point guard Steve Blake from the Los Angeles Lakers just before tip-off.

Golden State used their $4 million trade exception that the team received from Denver in the Iguodala deal last summer to absorb Blake’s remaining $4 million salary in the final year of his deal to complete the trade, according to Associated Press. The Warriors are hoping that the acquisition of Blake and Jordan Crawford earlier in the season from Boston, will allow the team to pull back on both Curry and Thompson’s minutes.

In 27 starts for the Lakers, Blake 9.5 points and a career-high 7.6 assists a game this season. Clearly the addition of Blake strengthens the bench, which has clearly been one of the weakest in the league this season.

It’s unclear if Blake will suit up Thursday night when the Warriors play host to the visiting Houston Rockets, who destroyed the Lakers 134-108 at Staples Center Wednesday night.

With the win over Sacramento, Golden State improves to 3-0 over the Kings this season.

Warriors report: W’s don’t come in too shellshocked after LeBron buzzer beater to end first half; ready themselves for Linsanity & the Rockets

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by David Zizmor

SACRAMENTO–The Warriors realize that the Miami Heat’s LeBron James three point step back shot that won it for Miami on a buzzer beater to end Golden State’s first half was not a whole lot they could have done about it. The only thing they could have done was maybe keeping the ball away from LeBron in the first place. The Warriors would have liked to have had anybody else to have had the ball instead of LeBron.

The fact of the matter is he really made a really difficult shot and if your going to have LeBron taking a difficult shot in that situation it’s probably the one you want him to take nine times out of ten. Most of the times he’s not going to hit that shot and that was a really difficult shot and the Warriors Andre Iguodala was on him and the Warriors had good defense.

LeBron made a great shot, you just tip your cap to him and go about your business and the Warriors look at that and say “hey we were in that game with the world champs and we beat them the other time we were in Miami” and you move on and you go about your business. The Warriors have to say ” we hang with the best that’s how good we are.”

The Warriors problems haven’t been with the good teams, the Warriors problems have been with the bad teams and the mediocre teams. They’re kind of known to play to the level of their competition. So you worry about a team like Sacramento where the Warriors played on Wednesday night. They may not take the night off but they played a poor game because that’s the trend this year when a bad team hosts the Warriors, the Warriors are known to play to that level of competition.

This is a very young team and their still learning, they have to learn and they have to learn they can’t coast on their reputation that they kind of earned that in the playoffs last year and the Warriors have to earn their way into the post season. Your not guaranteed anything in this league and while games they’ve won against Miami, Oklahoma City, and the Clippers and such proved that their just as good as anybody they need to get up for the bad teams too.

They have to look at the Spurs and say “hey San Antonio comes to play every single night no matter who the other team is on the other side of the floor, the Spurs are in there night in and night out. Even if Tim Duncan and Tony Parker are taking the night off to get some rest, the other guys step up their game and play as hard as they possibly can.

This is the reason why the Spurs are always at the top of the standings and the Warriors have to learn from that hopefully as the season gets down to the home stretch. The Warriors have to start taking that to heart. The Warriors are hoping that this is the part of the season where they really get into it. They have a favorable schedule going forward so hopefully that plays to their benefit.

David Zizmor covers the NBA for Sportstalk radio

Kings execute trade with Brooklyn

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By Charlie O. Mallonee

The Sacramento Kings and the Brooklyn Nets completed a trade on Wednesday that brings guard Jason Terry and forward Reggie Evans to the Kings in exchange for guard Marcus Thornton.

“Adding Jason and Reggie provides our roster with toughness and veteran leadership that will help this team continue to grow,” said D’Alessandro. “They bring a wealth of NBA experience to Sacramento that will undoubtedly make a positive impact on our younger players. We also thank Marcus for his contributions and wish him great success going forward.”

Terry is a 15 year veteran who has played with Atlanta, Dallas, Boston and Brooklyn. He was a member of the 2011 NBA Champion Dallas Mavericks. Terry has averaged 4.5 points per game, 1.1 rebounds per game and 1.6 assists in a very limited role for the Nets.

Evans is a 12 year NBA veteran who has played in Seattle, Denver, Philadelphia, Toronto, Los Angeles (Clippers) and Brooklyn. He is known as a tenacious rebounder and as a player who hustles on the court. Evans has averaged 2.7 points per game and 5.0 rebounds per game.

Thornton was in his fourth season as a King and was having a disappointing year. He was shooting under 40.0% from the field. Thornton is averaging 8.3 points per game.

The trade should create more playing time for Kings’ rookie guard Ben McLemore.

Kings downtown arena: Anti arena group and pro arena groups ready to rumble over subsidy vote

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by Ken Gimblin

SACRAMENTO–Anti arena groups, Sacramento Taxpayers Opposed to Pork (STOP) and Voters for a Fair Arena Deal and pro arena groups Sacramento Sierra Building and Construction Trade Council, The Greater Sacramento Urban League, and the Sacramento Aea Congregations Together, along with the city of Sacramento are ready for a legal show down over a proposed ballot measure over the subsidy to help finance a new Kings arena at the downtown plaza which would ask the question on the ballot if public funds should be used to build the new Kings arena.

STOP has argued that petitions gathered are legal and binding and that STOP who helped get the petitions signed say that they have the legal amount of signatures to get the initiative on the ballot. The Sacramento city clerk’s office has rejected the ballots because the legal wording was flawed.

The anti arena groups say they are not opposed to the building of the arena but the subsidy cost of $258 million far exceeds what the public should pay hence asking the finance question on the upcoming June election ballot. Both STOP and the Voters for a Fair Arena Deal have filed a lawsuit opposing the county clerk’s decision to null and void the ballots the case was filed on January 29th.

A court decision is expected to be made this week by Judge Timothy Frawley, the group known as The4000 a group which is financially supported by the Kings. The4000 in this legal fight say that it’s not just the legal wording in the petitions that are flawed.

The4000 point out that Seattle hedge fund manager Chris Hansen who tried to move the Kings from Sacramento to Seattle and lost that effort when the NBA Board of Commissioners elected to keep the Kings in Sacramento say that Hansen who secretly donated $100,000 to STOP’s effort to get the petition drive going and the money was funneled through an L.A. law firm who supported STOP.

The4000 argued that Hansen did not legally disclose himself as the financial supporter of the petitions and that he was later fined $50,000 for failing to do so. Hansen’s alleged motives were to finance STOP and step back into the shadows as to not offend the NBA Board of Governors so he could have another shot at either buying or establishing an NBA team in Seattle. Although the NBA has not come out and said as much Hansen more than likely has hurt his chances of getting an NBA team by financing the ballot measure.

STOP has said that they did not know that Hansen had donated the $100,000 for the campaign but The4000 have made it clear that Hansen had come to them asking them to destroy the petition signatures so he could clear his name. STOP says they have enough signatures to get the initiative on the ballot for June.

Stay tuned we’ll have Judge Frawley’s decision as soon as that story breaks this week.

Ken Gimblin is covering the Sacramento Kings and Golden State Warriors new arena developments for Sportstalk radio