Tag: NBA

Kings Fall to Clippers 110-101

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By Charlie O. Mallonee

The LA Clippers came to call on the Sacramento Kings Friday night. It would have seemed to be perfect timing as the Clippers had a home game on Thursday and then had to face a road game the next night. The timing did not work out for the Kings as the Clippers came out shooting at 50.0% from the field and won the game 110-101.

The Clippers came out in the first period looking like a team that was coming off a day of rest rather than playing game two of a back-to-back. The Clippers outscored the Kings 24-22. The Kings shooting left something to be desired as they shot just 38.1% from the field. Isaiah Thomas came off the bench to spark the Kings and keep the game close.

The Clippers started off the second quarter with a 9-0 run over the Kings. Just when it looked like the Clips would run away with the period, Isaiah Thomas brought the Kings back to life, but the Kings poor shooting allowed the Clippers to open up a 10 point lead. The Kings brought the game back into the paint and cut the LA lead to three with 4:26 remaining in the quarter. The Clippers used an improved shooting percentage (47.5%) to open up a 54-45 halftime lead.

The Kings shot just 38.1% (16-42) from the field in the first half. Isaiah Thomas led the Kings with 12 points.

The Clippers started off the second half much as they did the first half. Chris Paul put LAC on the board with back-to-back jumpers and strong shooting from the field (51.1%) kept the Clippers on top opening up a lead of 13 at the 7:41 mark. Following a three point play by DeMarcus Cousins, the Kings came back to life cutting the Clippers lead to 68-60 at 5:38. Isaiah Thomas came off the bench at 4:35 and sparked a charge that cut the LA lead to two with 1:25 to play in the quarter. A Travis Outlaw put back of a Cousins shot at the buzzer made it LAC 79 – Kings 77 after three periods.

A Jason Thompson field goal opened the final period tying the game at 79-79. The quarter quickly became a game of outside shooting and free throws. The Clippers would threaten to pull away and then the Kings would find an answer to keep the game close. Sacramento tied the game at 90 with a circus shot from Isaiah Thomas. The Kings took the lead at 6:43 on a Jason Thompson lay-up, but the hot LA shooting kept putting the Clippers back into the lead. DeMarcus Cousins picked up a technical foul at the 2:48 mark and gave LA a three point lead.  The game remained close, but in the end the Kings could not overcome the Clippers 50.0% shooting from the field. The LA Clippers won the game 110—101.

The Kings fell to 1-1 on the young season. They now face their first road contest of the year in Oakland versus the Warriors on Saturday night.

Isaiah Thomas led all scorers with 29 points. DeMarcus Cousins added 24 and Marcus Thornton put up 17 for Sacramento. Chris Paul led the Clippers with 26 points. Blake Griffin posted 20 along with Jamal Crawford’s 18.

The key to the Clippers win was their shooting percentage. When a team shoots 50.0% (35-70) from the field and shoots 50.0% (12-24) from 3 point range, it becomes almost impossible to defeat them. The Clippers could not be defeated on Friday night.

Notes: The Kings on Thursday declined to pick their option on Jimmer Fredette for the 2014-15 season. The move will make the former first-round draft pick an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year. Fredette will be free to negotiate with any NBA team including the Kings for next season. The move may also mean that Fredette will not finish the season in Sacramento as his now expiring contract becomes a desirable piece in possible trades with teams looking to free up salary cap room. Fredette did not play in the season opener versus Denver… The Kings had two additional players that were eligible for deals on Thursday, Greivis Vasquez and Patrick Patterson. The team declined to offer either player an extension, but Kings can make both players restricted free agents at the end of the season … The Kings travel to the Bay Area on Saturday night to play the Golden State Warriors for the first time in the regular season. The Warriors will make their first appearance in Sacramento on Sunday 12/1 … The Kings won the season series versus the Warriors in 2012-13 3-1 … Because of the many connections between Sacramento and Golden State, the Kings are anxious to eliminate the references to “golden state light” that some have made about the team.

Suns Get Burned by Kings

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By Tony Renteria

Sacramento CA: The Sacramento Kings (2-1) continued the preseason by hosting the Phoenix Suns (3-1) at Sleep Train Arena on Thursday and left with a bruised ego as they lost 107-90

The Kings have turned over a new leaf with a new ownership group and new upbeat defensive mentality from head coach Micheal Malone.

The Kings have been holding their opponent under 90 points per game this preseason.

The Kings led the Suns after a strong first quarter by the score of 25 to 19.

Second year player Hamady Ndiaye supplied some excitement with a strong put back and huge block on the defensive end.

DeMarcus Cousins went PlayStation crazy in the first half with 23 points as the Kings took a 56-50 lead heading into the break. Cousins finished with 29 points on 8-15 shooting from the field. Jimmer Fredette led the Kings with Minutes and added in 23 points on his own.

The Suns were led by Markieff Morris who scored 15 for the visiting team.
There were 11,223 in attendance at Sleep Train Arena.

The Suns Host Oklahoma City on the 22nd and the Kings head to face the Trailblazers up north in Portland on Sunday

Kings Score Big Over Clippers

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By Tony Renteria

Sacramento, CA–The Hometown Sacramento Kings continued the pre seaon by A convincing win over the visiting Los Angles Clippers, 99-88. The Kings were led by a very aggressive DeMarcus Cousins who Kings with 31 points on 11-18 shooting from the field.

The Clippers limped into the game with out All Stars Chris Paul and Blake Griffin. Sacramento Native Matt Barnes was also out of this game. With out the leadership of Paul and the Interior Power of Griffin, Cousins worked his way close to the basket and scored seemingly at will during the first half.

The Clippers were lead by Jamal Crawford and his 25 points.

This game puts both teams at 2-1 for the pre season. The Clippers head to Phoenix to play the Suns tomorrow While the Kings Host the same Suns on Thursday.

Mark Jackson: “we’re not satisfied with last year”

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By Gabe Schapiro

With just a few days until official practices start Golden State Warriors coach Mark Jackson took some time to answer questions for the media.

Following an exciting playoff run and an eventful offseason, Jackson’s overall tone was calm, cool, and collected. He was confident but not brash, and early on established that “we’re not satisfied with last year.”

The number that is, or was, written in the locker room as the team’s wins goal this season has gotten some attention recently, but it is no longer there. “Yeah, I erased it,” Jackson said with a chuckle, continuing more seriously, “if you put that up there it’s a target. I don’t want any limits. That could be a great number or it could be a number where you’re putting a ceiling on us.” Predictably, Jackson refused to discuss any numbers, but more abstractly set his goal that if they “end our season with the tank on empty, we’ll be extremely satisfied by what takes place.”

Jackson was asked about last years team flying under the radar, a concept he took some offense to, reasoning, “I think it’s doing a disservice to our players to say that at some point we caught people by surprise. No, we’re a very good basketball team.” Adding that even if that may have happened in the past, that given last years success and the splashes they made over the offseason, now “we’re not going to sneak up on anybody that’s for sure.”

He offered some updates on how some players are recovering and how others have progressed since last year. Early reports from the voluntarily workouts that have been taking place over the past few weeks were that center Andrew Bogut has looked impressive, and Jackson confirmed. “It’s accurate that he’s looking very good, you can tell by the smile on my face.” Last season Bogut missed a lot of time early in the year, and even when in the lineup was frequently on minutes restrictions and just didn’t look like the player that many fans had been accustomed to seeing. Jackson was happy to report “for the first time in a long time, there are no restrictions on him.” It can’t be understated just how valuable a fully healthy Bogut could mean to this Warriors squad.

Stephen Curry and his at times worrisome ankles are also holding up well. He has had no setbacks thus far, and Jackson went so far as to offer up an entertaining anecdote about Curry matching up against Kent Bazemore during workouts. “He’s making moves and making plays where I want to pull Kent Bazemore aside and have prayer with him for a moment. Steph is that good right now.”

During last years playoffs, following David Lee’s injury, Golden State tried and had a lot of success playing Harrison Barnes at power forward. Jackson touched on the immense amount of versatility this roster offers him, and while he wouldn’t specify on how often he intends to use what combinations, he did report that Barnes has bulked up over the summer. “Barnes has gotten bigger, stronger, he plays with an edge. Today he has a body where he can play against power forwards. Physically he can handle it.” Given his athletic ability and how well he handled his rookie season, a bulked up Barnes could present even more headaches for opposing teams.

Towards the end of the 30 or so minutes he spent talking, he was asked about his contract. A couple of months ago the Warriors picked up the team option on Jackson’s contract, giving him two more guaranteed years, rather than discussing a long-term, more lucrative deal. Jackson quickly dismissed the situation as “not a concern.” “At the end of the day that’s going to take care of itself.” Adding at the end, “I look forward to being here for quite a while.”

Over the past few months there has been almost nothing but good news coming out of Golden State’s headquarters, and today was much of the same.

Anti Kings arena groups close to getting initiative on ballot

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by Ken Gimblin
Thursday September 19, 2013

SACRAMENTO–In what will be a grass root effort by anti Sacramento Kings arena groups Sacramento Taxpayers Opposed To Pork or STOP are within a few thousand signatures of getting an initiative on the ballot that all new sports facilities in Sacramento that are being publicly funded will have to go through voter approval before any public money is spent on any new facility. The anti arena movement confirmed that they have now 18,000 signed petitions which were financed by Chris Hansen who wanted to move the Kings to Seattle.

Hansen who was fined $50,000 for not revealing that he was the financier of the petitions missed the state deadline code to file with office of elections. Hansen wanted to be a quiet contributor to the petition drive so that he would have a chance at getting an NBA team in the future or the Kings if the initiative passed and public funds couldn’t be used. Hansen only revealed himself after he was forced to come clean on who contributed to the campaign to put the initiative on the ballot. Hansen later apologized for his campaign contribution after realizing the NBA who granted the Kings to stay in Sacramento probably will not want to do business with Hansen since he played a role in contributing to a campaign drive in Sacramento that stop public subsidies for the Kings arena.

Hansen has demanded that all the petitions be returned to him, STOP has said the campaign to put the initiative on the ballot will go forward and that the campaign is close to making the resolution, “these petitions represent the will of 18,000 people who took the time to provide their signatures and express their desire to put this tax subsidy to a vote.” said STOP president Julian Camacho.

STOP is living up to their full name in trying to stop public funding of the arena “make no mistake, this initiative will qualify” said STOP’s treasurer Jim Cathcart. Doug Elmets spokesman for the 2006 initiative that proposed using tax monies to finance a new arena in 06 that failed said there is enough political power in Sacramento to defeat the initiative, “all the invested parties are going to be out in droves trying to defeat this initiative, when you combine, business, labor, and local government all who are eager to see the arena built you’ll see an incredibly well funded effort.”

Ken Gimblin is covering Kings basketball for Sportstalk Radio

Iguodala press conference highlights; “we have high expectations”

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By Gabe Schapiro

This afternoon new Warrior Andre Iguodala was made available to the media for questions, during which he covered everything from his expectations for this years squad to his sons favorite San Francisco 49er (Colin Kaepernick, for those wondering).

Earlier this offseason Stephen Curry revealed that the team has a wins goal for next season that is written in the locker room, and that the number “starts with a five.” When asked about this goal, Iguodala responded that he has “high expectations for us,” but that he “won’t say too much about wins. I would rather fly under the radar.”

While the buzz would still likely qualify as under the radar, for one of the few times over the last 20 years Golden State begins a season with legitimate playoff hopes and beyond. Iguodala was asked about how that changes preparation, to which he said that it’s “a different type of focus. Everything you do is with a winning mentality.” Along those lines he said that during his career with the Philadelphia 76ers and Denver Nuggets he has never been in camp this early, and that the workouts during the offseason were never this organized. It goes a long way towards establishing a “sense of team,” and “building a foundation.”

As that foundation is being built, Iguodala spent a fair amount of time discussing how he has begun fitting in to this new environment, on and off the court. Off of it he said that he has played with a lot of good character guys and with pretty cohesive rosters, but that it has been “even easier with this team.”

On the court, known for his suburb defensive ability, he was asked about adjusting to the Warriors defensive strategies compared to what he was used to in Denver. He responded “it’s not much different” and that it makes for an easy transition because “there are some defensive principles that don’t change. There is no gray area, it’s just plain black and white.”

In regards to the impact he had on a vastly improved Nuggets defense last year, Iguodala remarked bluntly “I would say I had a lot to do with it. I had a lot of responsibility.” He continued that in general “I don’t get enough credit for what I brought to some teams.” He touched on the fact that he will be guarding the opposing teams best player most nights, which was a task issued to Klay Thompson much of the time last season. He said that Thompson is “a better defender than people think,” and that he looks forward to being able to help “take the pressure off of Klay. Let him do more work offensively.”

On the offensive side of his game, he again voiced that the adjustments he has to make are minimal. “If anything to just be more aggressive. Go into an attack style.” His ability to drive the ball and be that aggressive playmaker should open up a lot of looks for the dynamic backcourt of Curry and Thompson. On the topic of having those options Iguodala said, half jokingly, “that will be a little stressful. It’s hard to pick one, both can knock it down.” He added that he is “planning on some high assist nights.”

It was all good news from Golden State’s new swingman, as he seems to be fitting in perfectly. It should be noted, however, for anyone who hasn’t already gotten the public service announcement, don’t call him Iggy, “I’ve never liked to be called Iggy.” More creative and fitting nicknames are sure to come for what appears to be a very exciting group. Expectations are high for this club, and they have the expectations of themselves to match.

Kings Arena: Battle getting started between union and non-union contractors

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By Ken Gimblin

SACRAMENTO–Non Union construction workers aren’t buying that they’ll get a fair shot at working on the new Kings arena. Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson last Thursday addressed the media, fans, politicians, community groups, and contractors that union contractors will be getting top bidding for working on the Kings new arena. That’s when the fireworks began when Kevin Dayton a Roseville political consultant took the microphone from the podium where Johnson had been speaking and said that there will be a fight that non union workers should have a shot at working on the new arena.

The project estimated at $448 million had Dayton and Eric Christen who heads a San Diego coalition for Fair employment in construction who is in favor of non-union contractors and who has worked with Dayton said there is enough work for both union and non-union workers on the project that keeping non-union contractors out is discrimination. Johnson during his speech is leaning towards using union contractors something that Christen said was not fair to non union workers “our guys are furious about this, opponents of taxpayer funding for this arena just found an aggressive new ally today.” said Christen

The Mayor introduced the “community workforce and training agreement” which was signed by lead contractor Turner Construction and the Sacramento-Sierra Building and Construction trades council. The part that boiled the non-union contractors in the agreement was that there will be a no strike clause and that an estimated 3,500 jobs were promised to be union. Also union or non-union contractors would receive union scale and benefits. The agreement also spells out that 60-70 percent of the workers must be from the Sacramento area.

Kings president Chris Granger assured the crowd that the new arena will be up and ready by 2016 one year before the proposed 2017 target date. Granger was excited that the building would be ready one year earlier this “will provide us with great comfort and certainty” said Granger.

Chris Mullin signed as team advisor: Basketball Hall of Famer Chris Mullin said he was excited about being part of putting a winning team together again as the Kings owner Vivek Ranadive will make Muillin his principal advisor. Trusting the NBA veteran and his managerial experience also a huge amount of his playing experience and success Ranadive has the full confidence that Mullin can spot top notch talent that would help the Kings move to being one of the top tier teams in the NBA, “I’m especially grateful for the unique opportunity to work in close proximity, with a world class ownership group led by Vivek Ranadive and the talented group of individuals assembled in our front office.” said Mullin.

Mullin brings a lot of qualifications to the job, a five time NBA All-Star in 16 seasons with the Warriors and Pacers, during his career he averaged 18.2 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 3.5 assists in 986 games. Mullin is a gold medal winner, winning two in each of the 1984 and 1992 Olympics, in 1985 Mullin won the John Wooden Award for most outstanding college player. It was during that time when he and Patrick Ewing were the two top prospects out of the college ranks. Mullin was selected out of St.John’s as a seventh pick by Golden State and Ewing was selected by the New York Knicks.

In his retirement days he worked in the Golden State front office as executive vice president of operations in 2004, Mullin worked at the Warriors for five seasons. Mullin worked with current Kings General Manager Pete D’Alessandro who worked at Golden State from 2004-08 as an assistant General Manager.

Ken Gimblin is covering the Kings for Sportstalk Radio