We have the framework for a new arena deal in Sacramento. The fans are rejoicing, Gavin Maloof is crying and Mayor Kevin Johnson just hit the political jackpot.
Oh yeah, and the Sacramento Kings have a home game tonight.
The second half of the season starts today and if nothing else, the schedule is a lot more generous than that debacle of a first half. The Kings played an incredible 21 of 33 games away from home and the schedule flip-flops on the backside, just in time to celebrate.
So while huge crowds begin filing Power Balance Pavilion to pay homage, we should probably say goodbye to the 11-22 Sacramento Kings of that dreadful first half and say hello to a new 0-0 team that is ready to pounce.
So what is there to look forward to after the break?
First and foremost, Kings’ rookie point guard Isaiah Thomas is a revelation. He’s gone from Mr. Irrelevant to Kings’ starting point guard, averaging 19.5 points, 6.5 assists and a little over four rebounds a game. It’s only a four-game stint, but Thomas looks and acts the part of the 17 point,six assist playmaker who played last season for the Washington Huskies.
Keith Smart getting a chance to further implement his scheme. Not only is this a strike shortened, compacted, 66-game schedule without training camp or summer league, but Smart took over eight games after coach Paul Westphal was dismissed. Smart has complied a 9-17 record, which includes 19 road games. With home games comes home cooking and practice time, two things the Kings have found scarce this season. Smart has already made two substantial moves that have paid off – inserting Jason Thompson and Isaiah Thomas into the starting lineup. He now has 33 games to show he is the Kings’ coach of the future.
The development of DeMarcus Cousins. The second-year big man is making tremendous strides under coach Smart. Cousins is averaging 20 points and 14 rebounds per 36 minutes. Unfortunately, he doesn’t play 36 minutes a game because he has consistently faced foul trouble for most of his two NBA seasons. Here is the good news – over his last 14 games, Cousins has averaged just 3.6 fouls per game, down from the 4.6 he averaged through the first 18. Cousins finally looks comfortable and it would not be a surprise to see Cousins finish the season on a high note.
Jason Thompson: coming of age. Playing for major free agent dollars, the fourth-year big man out of Rider has figured out his body, the NBA game and his left hand. Thompson has always been a solid rebounder and hustle player, but he has now become an effective post scorer. The tandem of Cousins and Thompson appear to be improving together, giving the Kings a formidable frontline.
Jimmer Fredette getting a break to clear his head. Jimmer is by far the most popular topic on Cowbell Kingdom. The jury is still out, but getting a few minutes away from the game to get centered can only help. Is he a Steve Nash, pass-first point guard? Is he a Deron Williams, score-first point guard? Is he a combo guard or undersized two? These are questions that the Kings would have liked to address through summer league. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen and we are now left with a player trying to discover himself under the bright lights of the NBA. Let’s hope that a few days away provided some clarity.
Chuck Hayes finding his groove. The Kings thought they signed a defensive catalyst when they inked Hayes to a four-year deal. Then everything came undone. Hayes came into camp heavy, failed a physical due to a heart condition and was waived. He returned before game one, only to dislocate his left shoulder three weeks later. He’s had moments lately where it looks like he’s finding his rhythm. Hayes has shown improvement in his passes from the high post. He has shown some nice moves to the hoop and he is still the Kings’ best communicator. While he has lost his starting job to Thompson, Hayes looks primed to be the third big Smart’s tightening rotation.
Tyreke Evans learning a new position. Call it what you like, but Evans is now the starting small forward for the Kings. Some may prefer the terms “three-guard set” or “point forward”, but trust me, he’s a small forward for the next 33 games. Evans would prefer point guard, but Thomas looks firmly planted in that role for the remainder of the season, barring injury. What do the Kings need out of Evans? Growth. He needs to show that he isn’t the same player the Kings drafted almost three seasons ago. What does that mean? I think it means he has to guard opponents’ toughest wing players night in and night out and learn to hit the corner three. Is this a permanent move? I don’t think so, but it’s the only option Smart had to finish this season.
Marcus Thornton becoming more than a scorer. On occasion, Thornton shows you snippets of other skills. Three games ago he finished with 10 rebounds on the way to his only double-double of the season. The Kings don’t need him to do this every night, but Thornton is much better than the 3.6 rebounds per game that he averages. He is also better than the two assists he hands out each night. If Thornton is not better than these numbers, then he might just become a sixth man going forward, especially if the Kings land a wing in the off-season.
Who snaps out of a season-long funk: John Salmons, Francisco Garcia, Travis Outlaw or J.J. Hickson? There are no words for the first half that Salmons had and I don’t feel the need to try and make any up either. Garcia has shown a fighting spirit over his last couple of games, which might earn him a look in the rotation. Outlaw supposedly looks amazing in practice and Hickson is way too young to be lost in this list of players. There is no rhyme or reason for what has happened to this group, but there is always hope that what we saw for the last, two-plus months was just an aberration. The Kings need one of these guys to play up to their career averages in the second half. Just one. If not, we are going to start seeing names from this list – Donté Greene, Tyler Honeycutt and Hassan Whiteside.
James Ham provides coverage through news analysis and in-depth interviews with Kings players and staff. James is also one of the producers behind the award-winning, independent documentary "Small Market, Big Heart". James graduated UC Davis with a degree in history and is happily married with two children.
Obviously Petrie needs to make some deals. This roster isn’t making the playoffs in the next few years without major changes.
Ryan Silva01
I would say they can’t make the playoffs in a year without minor roster changes. As Kings fans we have come accustom to seeing subpar talent on the floor. This makes our first reactions as to how to fix the Kings always about the roster. We may have all we need already and don’t even know it. Half way through last season would anyone have said that the Memphis Grizzlies had all the pieces they needed? I think not. Without Rudy Gay even. Forget it.
Lets face it, most of Petrie’s work is done. It’s up to Keith Smart and the Kings to make work.
Gary
Maybe it’s time to give Jimmer the room to grow that Isaiah got. Jimmer had a 4or 5 game stint where he was averaging around 15 per game and his reward was to be benched for a couple of games. During that same stretch, Isaiah was putting up terrible numbers and was rewarded with more playing time. That extra time and the confidence shown by his coach has allowed him to became a solid player (at least for a few games and counting). Am I complaining about what Isaiah got? No way! This is a throw-away season and Isaiah should be allowed to learn and grow. And he’s doing just that. But why is Jimmer not afforded the same opportunity? He gets 8 or 9 throw away minutes a game. Also, Jimmer was the player of the year in the point guard position. Why isn’t he allowed to run the point? Isaiah gets to run his natural position. Again, right move to let Isaiah play the point. But let Jimmer play his natural position too. Why does it seem like someone doesn’t quite want the Jimmer to succeed?
Travishight
I totally disagree. The kings need veteran leadership. The only way to get it is to say goodbye to some of the promising young guys for proven veterans who know what it takes to be a playoff team. I don’t think Smart is the answer either but that’s a whole other subject
My hope is that the players the Kings need will come now that a new arena is on the horizon. My thought is to trade Evans/Thompson and build around Cousins, IT, Thornton
http://twitter.com/Kingsguru21 Nate Hughart
8 or 9 minutes are not throwaway minutes in the NBA. Why? Every minute is important.
You can pretend that Jimmer is a star at the NBA level, but he’s not going to be regardless of how many minutes he gets. That isn’t in the cards for Jimmer unless he makes one of those Dirk Nowitzki type recoveries in the off-season.
On the other hand, Isaiah didn’t get minutes consistently early on and did what most players in the NBA have to do: Isaiah earned his minutes. Now he gets more leeway based on that production.
Jimmer has not earned that leeway yet, and until he does, you’re going to be stuck complaining about the minutes Jimmer does get.
Kings Fan
I like Jimmer and I am glad he is a King, but the simple fact is Isaiah Thomas has played better then Jimmer all season long. Jimmer is getting the minutes he deserves right now. Isaiah plays better defensive, makes better decisions, and is shooting the ball as well as anyone. He is averaging 2.3 three pointers per game as a starter. Right now coach Smart has to play Isaiah, he would just be crazy not to.
http://twitter.com/kwlarson Kurtis Larson
No one doesn’t want Jimmer to succeed. What you miss in those games where Isaiah “was putting up terrible numbers” was the fact that the offense flows better when he is on the floor. He is a better passer than Jimmer and has a tendency to find guys where they need the ball better than Jimmer. James is exactly right in his assessment. Jimmer is still finding out what type of player he needs to be in the NBA. He is halfway through the first year of a four year deal. The Kings staff and organization is very high on Jimmer, and rightly so, but he needs more time to find himself. Be patient.
Also, I am a current BYU student and a lifelong Kings fan, so I see both sides of this spectrum (and hear it from BYU fans on twitter). No one wants Jimmer to fail.
Mars
Not a Smart fan. I think the Kings need a good coach, who plays players more consistent minutes and actually has an offensive game plan.
Ryan Silva01
You understand that Paul Westphal doesn’t work here anymore, don’t you?
I have seen both of those areas improve under Smart, are they where they need to be? Hell no, but they are improving. Keith Smart is getting his chance, and will be under the microscope plenty over the summer, but until then lets be thankful the players like him and are learning to play together. It could have been a lot worse, yes?
Matthew Grace
I think it is so interesting that Keith Smart was one of the many that did not give Lin a chance. He is now the “coach” at Sacramento and is involved in a basketball crime to make sure Jimmer Fredette gets treated as badly as possible..I dont need to go into details Ill just say Fredette’s all around game surpasses Lin’s and just like Lin, Fredette makes every one on the floor better..and involves all of his teammates. Fun to watch…
It is agonizing to watch how ‘Smart” benches him every time he gets on a roll. “smart has also allowed his teammates to freeze out Jimmer without saying a word.
I have seen Fredette go on a couple of shooting clinics and smart will bench him the rest of the game. Including 15 point and 3 assists in one quarter and Jimmer is benched for almost the entire remainder of the game . I saw “smart” bench Jimmer with 2 minutes left against the Twolves after Jimmer shot 85% in the 4th quarter, 13 points, had 2 steals , 4 assists and was dominating.Nobody said ANYTHING . the commentators , the press, teammates ..If that happened anywhere else “smart’ would have lost his job. I could go on with all the abuse i have seen “smart” deal out to this kid. Jimmer had four starts in a row where he avg.ed almost 17 points and was throwing excellent passes. All of a sudden he is sitting entire games. This is a CRIME. I like Isaiah and think he is a good ball playr but he was terrible for a strtch and smart kept him in.. Fredette is on a short leash and never gets to find his rhythm cause he has a hater for a coach.
Let Fredette play for 40 min and I guarantee he will have 25pts and 8 to 10 assists every night.
josephchadwiggins12
between gary and mathew grace they have pretty much nailed my every point, so much of this might sound regurgitated….. but fredette for some reason is absolutely not liked by smart… the fact that he rides the pine for the likes of marcus thorton is absolutely beyond my wildest comprehension… i honestly should be done trying to get thru to sac fans, but for some reason the majority of them and their ignorance towards this one particular situation, seems to spur me on, by sparking my competitive juices… i wanted this to be where jimmer made his mark, but the lack of knowledge of many with this fan base blows me away… where else could u have ur number 1 draft pick wasting away on the pine, on a team no doubt who’s winning % rivals bottom dwellers everywhere… it makes no sense… he has the games where he started recently and he ave 17 a game, shot 14 for 23 from deep…. passed the ball great…. etc etc… then he’s out of the blue benched… i dont get it….he had moments under smart where he played like garbage, and he just kept throwing him out there… not in favorable situation i will add, but nevertheless he did cont to throw him out there…so he struggles mightily, he gets plenty of time… but then directly after he finally begins to catch on, and get the hang of things, what happens? he benches him… and yet no outrage from king fans, they are fine with it.. and yea they won a couple of games as fredette road the pine. to who, the spurs, and two nobody’s.. then they lost a ton…. just like they have been doing all year… as a starter fredette shot 60% from deep, yet everybody here screams of nothing but his troubles… he hasnt been struggling for a while now.. even in his games where he gets 5 min he finds a way to make a mark… yet nothing is said in his defense.. speaking of his defense… thats not nearly as bad as u king fans try to make it out.. is he blessed with blazing lateral quickness? nope… does he yet find a way to not get torched? yes… tell me one opponent who went nuts on fredette…. u will not be able to. i have seen every game and it is yet to happen.. lets move away from the confidence killing dnp’s that his ever so loving coach (if u listen to keith anything but smart tell it) blessed him with; and lets talk about some in game benchings that would absolutely blow a normal fans mind… (not u brilliant king fans im assured, but for a moment try to pretend ur a bulls fan and try to fade far away from the life as a fan of one of the nba’s fav cellar dwellerS) i take u back to a road game.. kings vs the griz, down by 20 when he entered the game in the sec quarter fredette went ape crap, scoring 15 points on 5 for 7 from the floor as well as 3 for 4 from downtown… and on top of scoring the 15, he also managed to dish out 6 assist for good measure… again i tell u, all in the sec quarter…at halftime they were down 7, i kid u not 3 min into the 3rd quarter he was yanked… why? because he gave up a back door lob…. ONE!!!! how many times i have seen this poor mans street ball franchise give up basket after basket, and this bone head of a coach tells his rookie that that one play is enough to undo his 15 point 6 assist sec quarter… 2 points vs 27…. keith anything but smart is brain dead…. now let me take u to a game in minn; fredette for the most part has hardly seen the floor… to start the 4th, down 12 smart throws him out there and what happpens? another out burst the type that started an entire mania last year. he was scoring just like he did at byu… in the fourth alone he notched 14 points and also added several nice dishes for good measure. and better than all of the individual play, he sparked a massive comeback.. with 2 min left the kings (behind mainly fredette) tie the game… what happens next would normally be saved solely in the annuals of basketball coaching suicide..(not in sactown i know) with 1 min and 42 sec he takes the comeback kid/one man show out, and the kings go on to lose the game on a three at the buzzer by a non shooter…. its funny to me that no one remembers fredettes shining moments… he hasnt played bad since those starts… he just gets no time and no trust… MY PLEA IS THIS, PLEASE TRADE HIM…. sacramento if u dont want him, trade him… please… ur wasting some fun basketball that people are dying to see…. and to the person who said they found it funny that smart also screwed lin over, guess what, he also did it to steph curry…. the same type of kid and player…. he’s a piece…..
What lies ahead for the rest of the Sacramento Kings’ season
11We have the framework for a new arena deal in Sacramento. The fans are rejoicing, Gavin Maloof is crying and Mayor Kevin Johnson just hit the political jackpot.
Oh yeah, and the Sacramento Kings have a home game tonight.
The second half of the season starts today and if nothing else, the schedule is a lot more generous than that debacle of a first half. The Kings played an incredible 21 of 33 games away from home and the schedule flip-flops on the backside, just in time to celebrate.
So while huge crowds begin filing Power Balance Pavilion to pay homage, we should probably say goodbye to the 11-22 Sacramento Kings of that dreadful first half and say hello to a new 0-0 team that is ready to pounce.
So what is there to look forward to after the break?
Video shot and produced by Jonathan Santiago
Follow James on Twitter.
About the Author
James Ham provides coverage through news analysis and in-depth interviews with Kings players and staff. James is also one of the producers behind the award-winning, independent documentary "Small Market, Big Heart". James graduated UC Davis with a degree in history and is happily married with two children.
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