Category: Sacramento Kings

That’s Amaurys News and Commentary: Kings looking to get immient domain land parcel for arena build

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That’s Amaurys News and Commentary

PHOENIX AZ–The Sacramento Kings are very close to getting their new arena under construction they only need to sort out the remaining parcel land with the old Macy’s building located between the downtown plaza mall and Old Sacramento in front of the Holiday Inn. Once done the Kings are able to break ground.

The Kings are still haggling with the owners of the property U.S. Bank and the other owner CalPERS. CalPERS says their willing to sell their share but U.S. Bank is fighting immient domain and said it would be difficult to recoup the price that the Kings are willing to buy the building for.

In comparision to the Warriors situation the Warriors need to convince San Francisco voters that they need a 12 story building at Piers 30-32 waterfront location. That drive is not going so well and there have been talks about the team buidling at AT&T Park or by nearby UCSF owned by Salesforce just off of Third Street.

In the Kings case once they get past the U.S. Bankers for the Macy’s building they can begin construction, they don’t have to deal with the environmentalists, they don’t have to worry about the views, the view of the bay or the bridge views like the Warriors do. This is the closest the Kings have come to getting their new building once they settle with U.S. Bank on the sales price.

The Warriors situation is different and it looks like Warrior owners Peter Gruber and Joe Lacob could be in for a long, long fight here. They’ll need the best attorneys possibly the business law dream team version as opposed to O.J.’s dream team of attorneys from L.A. Especially Gruber who knows all those big shot attorneys down there in L.A.

Both basketball teams are hoping to get an new arena built and the Kings are hoping to get their new arena built and ready by the 2016 season and the Warriors who have to deal with lots of opposition in the waterfront neighborhood of the city to get their arena built as the arguement alone concerning the height of the arena and the building of a condo and hotel owned by the Warriors across the street is also causing a political stir.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Spanish radio voice for Oakland Athletics baseball and does News and Commentary each week for Sportstalk radio

Kings lose to Nets 104-89

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Photo credit: NBAE/Getty Images

By Charlie O. Mallonee

For second consecutive game, the Sacramento Kings committed more turnovers (24) than they had assists (11). For the second consecutive game, the Kings lost. Sacramento lost to the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday 104-89.

Another reason the Sacramento loss in Brooklyn was the play of former King Marcus Thornton. Thornton scored 27 points in just 27 minutes of playing time to be the Nets’ leading scorer of the game. More than half of his shots came from “3-point land” where he was 5 for 8 shooting. Every player who is traded wants to play well against his old team. Marcus Thornton was great versus the Kings.

The Nets’ bench outscored the Kings’ bench 59-19. Seven players scored off the bench for Brooklyn led by Thornton.

The Sacramento defense allowed Brooklyn to shoot .532 (41/77) from the field. The Nets shot .480 (12/25) from behind the 3-point line. The one weakness for the Nets was their poor performance from the free throw line (10/16 .625%).

The Kings shot just .444 (36/81) for field goals. They were a dismal 5 for 23 (.217) for 3-point shooting. Sacramento had one of its poorest performances of the season from the free throw line shooting 12 for 21 (.571).

Sacramento outrebounded Brooklyn 53-27, but they trailed the Nets in assists 25-11. The Nets recorded 14 steals to just three for the Kings.

The Kings squandered a great performance by DeMarcus Cousins. Cousins posted a double-double scoring 28 points and pulling down 20 rebounds.

Rudy Gay scored 20 points for the Kings. Isaiah Thomas had a very quiet game scoring just 10 points on 19 shots and hitting on just one of nine 3-point attempts.

Brooklyn outscored the Kings in every quarter except the second when both teams scored 21 points each.

The Kings are now 1-2 on their seven game road trip. Sacramento travelled to Detroit after the game to prepare for a Tuesday night contest with the Pistons. The Kings do not return to Sacramento until March 18 when they will host the Washington Wizards.

 

Kings lose Landry for rest of the season

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By Charlie O. Mallonee

If it were not for bad luck, Carl Landry would not have had any luck at all in the 2013-14 NBA season. Landry began the season with an injured left hip flexor that kept him in rehabilitation mode until mid-season. His return to the lineup was seen as a major positive for the struggling Kings.

Now, Landry faces a season ending injury. A MRI has revealed that he has a tear of the medial meniscus in his right knee. Landry has been shut down for the rest of the season and faces a surgery in the very near future.

The forward is a six year veteran of the NBA and is in his second stint as a member of the Kings. Landry played last season with the Golden State Warriors and signed with Sacramento as a free agent in the off season. He averaged 4.2 points (.517 FG%, .824 FT%) and 3.2 rebounds in 12.9 minutes per game in his 18 appearances this season.

Kings sign Orlando Johnson to a second 10 day contract

The Kings have announced the signing of guard Orlando Johnson to a second 10 day contract. Sacramento signed him to the first 10 day commitment on February 26.

Johnson is averaging 1.8 points, 0.8 rebounds, 0.6 assists and 9.0 minutes of playing time in five games coming off the bench. He began the season with the Indiana Pacers and was waived on February 20.

Kings Fall Hard In Toronto 99-87

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Photo credit: NBAE/Getty Images

By Charlie O. Mallonee

The Kings committed 17 turnovers and recorded 14 assists versus the Raptors on Friday night. A NBA team cannot win a game posting those types of numbers. The Kings did not win. Toronto downed Sacramento 99-87.

Kings Head Coach Michael Malone said after the game, “I thought we were awful tonight.”

The Kings were in Toronto to play the second game of seven game road trip. The game marked Rudy Gay’s first return to Toronto since being traded by the Raptors to Sacramento. Most fans expected a big game from Gay.

Gay did not have a spectacular game. He scored 15 points but it took 13 shots to score those points. Gay had five rebounds, 1 assist, three steals and two turnovers for the game. It was a subpar performance for the former Raptor.

The Kings did not have a good night shooting. They shot 41.7% (30/72) overall and just 26.3% (5/19) from beyond the three point arc. Sacramento could not help themselves from the free throw line as they shot a dismal 59.5% (22/37) from the stripe.

The Kings’ bench was not a big help as they were outscored 31-18 by the Raptors.

DeMarcus Cousins led all scorers in the game with 24 points on just 12 shots. He recorded seven rebounds, two assists, one steal and five turnovers.

Isaiah Thomas and Ben McLemore scored 14 points each, but both guards shot under 40% for the game. Ray McCallum scored eight points in 24 minutes of playing time.

Terrance Ross led the scoring for the Raptors with 18 points. DeMar DeRozan and Patrick Patterson scored 15 points apiece. Jonas Valanciunas added 14 points for Toronto.

There was not a double-double recorded by either team in the game.

The Kings’ season record fell to 22-40 with the loss. The playoff bound Raptors improved to 34-26 with the win.

The Kings move on to Brooklyn where they will play the Nets on Sunday afternoon. The game is scheduled to get underway at 3:00 PM Pacific Daylight Time.

Warriors arena in SF: Opposition too tough for W’s to move to piers 30-32

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by Ken Gimblin

SAN FRANCISCO–Opponents who argue against any kind of development at Piers 30-32 are close to succeeding in stopping any kind of oversized arena, condo or hotel construction. The Golden State Warriors who are trying to move from Oakland to the city have not officially ruled out going to the piers but they realize their odds are not too good with the Waterfront Embarcadero and city voters prepared to vote down any kind of high rise buildings there that would block city views and most are opposed to the cost of rebuilding the piers at $180 million double the original cost.

After numerous discussions the Warriors are prepared to look at their options of leaving Oakland and getting on the waterfront nieghborhood in the city at either AT&T Park in parking lot A on property leased by the San Francisco Giants from the city or a Mission Bay site that is located by UCSF, the latter site is owned by Salesforce who might drive a hard bargain as the property value there is worth $248 million.

The third option is considered the strongest of the three site choices to build a new arena from the financial and least amount of red tape at the Mission Bay site.There would be very little opposition by San Francisco voters in constructing a new arena, new condos and a hotel in this neighborhood. The Warriors would not have to come up against a nieghborhood of opponents who would object to their views being blocked, the team would not have to sell this idea to such organizations like the Regional Bay Conservation and Development Commission, the State Lands Commission, and the Army Corps of Engineers.

The reviews for the Mission Bay site would only have to be overseen by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and two city commissions. City Hall is very supportive of bringing the Warriors to San Francisco in light of losing the San Francisco 49ers to the Southbay this year. A Mission Bay site would sweepingly be voted in to allow the construction of the Warriors new buildings in terms of less hoops to jump through like Piers 30-32. The $248 million Mission Bay price tag is the property price and parking rights at a cost of $23.3 million at a nearby Mission Bay garage and costs and interest on property taxes after the purchase would be additional.

The Warriors would pay the $248 million for the property rights for the Mission Bay site and the city would cover the $23.3 million on the garage costs which would be much less than the $180 million foudation rebuild just on the 13 acre lot at Piers 30-32. Salesforce spokesperson Dane Valley said that the Mission Bay site is just based on rumors and that the sale of the property has never been discussed with the NBA team, “we don’t comment on rumors or speculation” said Valley.

Warriors spokesman P.J. Johnston said the total focus of the club right now is only at Piers 30-32 and that the Warriors are not speculating on any other property either AT&T Park or Mission Bay, “We’re just not going to discuss other sites. Our focus remains on Piers 30-32, which we believe is spectacular, transit rich and a logical place of the event pavilion and eight acres of new public parks” said Johnston.

A source says that the Warriors are not that excited about Mission Bay anyway because of the proximity that it is outside of downtown’s transit centers, that the site lies south of the San Francisco Cal Train station and only the T light rail train comes to the UCSF site. The strongest thumbs down to the Mission Bay site is BART doesn’t run anywhere near the UCSF location. While there is lots of room to develop for what the Warriors are looking for in their customer demographic Mission Bay would not work because the Warriors want that foot traffic from the Embarcadero center crowd and the BART and Muni Metro traffic which is walking distance.

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

Kings whip Bucks, 116-102

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By George Devine, Sr.

Milwaukee basketball fans who want to see good basketball these days would do well to focus their sights on the Golden Eagles of Marquette University. The local NBA team is not nearly as competitive or exciting. Coming into tonight’s game against Sacramento with a 12-47 record, the Bucks did nothing to help themselves, and lost to the visitors, 116-102.

Part of the problem is that the Bucks fail to play as a cohesive unit. Team players contribute to an aggregate pattern of rebounds and assists, which seem to be lacking for Milwaukee. As a result, individual scoring is interesting but not inspiring, and does not win the game. Though Brandon Knight was the hero of the evening with 25 points and 6 assists, he was not impressive on the boards. Neither were his teammates, including Jeff Adrien who had 15 points and played only 22 minutes due to his 4 personal fouls. Khris Middleton demonstrated the ability to achieve qualitatively but not quantitatively, with 11 points and 2 steals.

The Kings dominated in each quarter except the fourth, when Milwaukee prevailed 21-28 but it was too late. In the third, Sacramento spent the first half of the period enjoying an 11-2 run from which the home team never recovered.

Back to the form he demonstrated before the All-Star break, Rudy Gay had 22 points, as well as 7 rebounds and 6 assists. Isaiah Thomas was the high scorer, though, with 25 points; he contributed 6 assists and 4 steals. DeMarcus Cousins had 21 points, 8 boards and 5 assists.

Timberwolves down the Kings 108-97

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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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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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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.