by Jonathan Santiago & James Ham

Poor decision-making late cost the Sacramento Kings two winnable contests in their six-game road trip.  With a stop in Miami tomorrow, their cross country travels don’t get any easier.  We check in with Kings beat writer Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee with an update from the road.

Highlights

• How has the team taken, especially Tyreke Evans, to Isaiah Thomas’ promotion to starting point guard?  “I can’t really tell how Tyreke is taking it just yet.  I just know that you can kind of tell it’s not exactly what he’s used to.  But I think offensively, they look a lot better.  There’s a lot more flow, the tempo was better, they run more.  Isaiah does a great job of getting the ball into the post…The move is looking good so far, I just kind of wonder just how is Tyreke going to be able function without having the ball in his hands as much.  Because somebody who knows him has told me, he’s had the ball in his hands his entire life.  Moving him off the ball is not going to be easy.”

• Why does this team have such a difficult time grasping the concept of feeding the post?  “I think part of it, I call it hero syndrome.  They all want to be the hero instead of just making what’s simple.  And it’s almost as if there’s a mindset of ‘Wow, DeMarcus has 12 points in the first quarter already.  Okay, it’s my turn to get my 12 points and and then we’ll get DeMarcus going again’ instead of just riding that out.”

• More Jones on the Kings’ grasp of basic basketball principles:  “A lot of it goes back to the whole idea of basketball IQ.  It’s simple stuff they don’t seem to understand.  That’s just basic basketball – if you have a good big, give it to your big.  You give it to him and you let him set the table.  I don’t know why they refuse to do that or they can’t seem to understand how to do that.  But, that’s been their issue and until they figure that out, they’re going to keep having games like they’re having on this road trip.  You know, you’ve gotta make the game easy.  They don’t make the game easy for themselves at all.”

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by Jonathan Santiago & James Ham

With the Kings on a six-game road trip beginning tomorrow in Chicago, all eyes in the region are on the game being played off-the-court.  In an effort to raise funds for a new downtown arena,the Sacramento City Council votes whether to move forward on negotiating terms with a potential parking operator tomorrow.  Sacramento Bee Columnist Marcos Breton weighs in on this week’s podcast.

Highlights

• On the Twitter hashtag #SayYes: ”I think it’s an expression of not only for myself, but for a lot of people, how they feel about getting this done, getting an arena done and keeping the Kings and revitalizing the downtown.  The great thing about Twitter and the great thing about this particular incarnation of this arena saga in Sacramento is that this time, people have had the opportunity to express their love for the Kings and for what they represent as opposed to years passed when it was all about politics.  And so, maybe if we had Twitter back in ’03, ’04, ’05, ’06 – we’d have an arena already.”

• The Maloofs have seemingly let the NBA negotiate the arena deal on their behalf.  Does that surprise Breton that they’re far removed from negotiations? “No, because that’s the way it’s been for a while.  I think they are central to why we are at this place in Sacramento.  I don’t think that they’re bad people.  I just don’t think they’re very good owners.”

• The arena proposal needs at least a 5-4 vote in order to move forward to the next step: “I think the five are there provided that a deal does not put the general fund in risk.  If the only way they can figure this out is that if there’s cost overruns (and) that the general fund is going to be the backstop – that’s not going to fly.  But I think if they can do it without doing that, then I think there’s majority to pass.”

Read Breton’s Sunday column: New Kings arena is worth the risk

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by Jonathan Santiago & James Ham

In front of a sellout crowd and a nationally televised audience, the Sacramento Kings stunned one of the NBA’s elite, beating the Oklahoma City Thunder 106-101 at Power Balance Pavilion.

Tyreke Evans led the way for the Kings with 22 points, but the hero of the night was Marcus Thornton.  The Kings shooting guard hit two clutch three pointers before fouling out with less than 30 seconds left in the fourth quarter.

“We stuck in there with a great OKC team and played hard down the stretch,” said Thornton postgame. “We got stops that we needed.  We got buckets when we needed to.”

Center DeMarcus Cousins scored 19 points and grabbed nine boards for the Kings, who have now won four of their last five games.

“It was very fun,” said Cousins of the raucous atmosphere in the arena formerly known as ARCO. “We kept the crowd involved and they kept us going.  They helped us get a big win.”

Thunder All-Star Russell Westbrook scored a game-high 33 points, but turned the ball over seven times.  Teammate and fellow All-Star Kevin Durant chipped in 27 for the Thunder in just their sixth defeat this season.

It’s going to be an electric atmosphere when the Sacramento Kings host the Oklahoma City Thunder in their only nationally-televised game this season on TNT.  After the jump, find out how you can win a free pair of lower-level seats to Thursday night’s game!

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by Blake Ellington, special to Cowbell Kingdom.  Blake writes on everything Kings for the blog site Bleed Black and Purple.  He is also the founder of the grass roots campaign Here We Stay and a co-Producer on the documentary film Small Market, Big Heart.

The city of Sacramento recently released a list of companies interested in purchasing a collection of city-owned parking garages that would provide a substantial upfront payment to help fund a new downtown entertainment and sports complex.

The list, shown below, is a mixture of national and local parking companies and financial institutions.

• Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board
• Xerox Corporation
• InterPark LLC
• Guggenheim Securities, LLC
• Sacramento Forward, LLC
• Gates Group Capital Partners
• LAZ Parking/CIM Group
• The Carlyle Group
• CMB Export LLC
• Morgan Stanley Infrastructure, Inc.
• Bainbridge ZKS
• Revitalizing Sacramento LLC
• Capital City Parking Group

I recently spoke to Chris Lehane, executive director of the Think Big Sacramento coalition, about the status of the arena financing plan. The Sacramento City Council is expected to vote on whether or not to move forward with the parking lease at their Feb. 14 meeting.

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by James Ham & Jonathan Santiago

Playing to their potential.

Each starter for the Sacramento Kings played stellar in a thrilling 114-106 overtime victory at home over the Golden State Warriors.

“We were clicking on all cylinders tonight,” said big man DeMarcus Cousins, who posted his first-career 20-20 game.  ”But we’ve still got a lot of growing to do.  We’ve still got room for improvement so we’re going to continue to grow and get better.”

The Kings led by 11-points going into the fourth quarter.  But the Warriors’ bench, particularly Nate Robinson and Klay Thompson brought Golden State back in the game.  The two guards combined for 24 of the Warriors’ 26 points in the final period.

However, the Kings dominated in overtime – outscoring the Warriors 12-4 en route to victory.

“This group has shown from day one that they have the ability to get back in games – especially at home,” said Kings Head Coach Keith Smart.  ”They haven’t done that yet on the road, but (they have)…at home with our crowd and our fan base.”

by James Ham & Jonathan Santiago

Big nights from John Salmons and Marcus Thornton catapulted the Sacramento Kings to a 95-92 win over the Portland Trailblazers Thursday night at Power Balance Pavilion.

Sacramento Kings Head Coach Keith Smart said of Salmons after the game: “He’s putting work in and he’s a proud pro…The things that he is doing, other than scoring, have been great.”

And of Thornton: “As I said before, Marcus is a know-how guy and he’s going to make plays to keep us in the game…on both sides of the ball.”

The Kings trailed by as many as 13 points, but managed to tie the game 63-63with three minutes left in the third quarter.

Fast forward to the final period.  With 19.2 seconds left, Kings guard Tyreke Evans scored on a 17-foot jumper to put Sacramento up five. But following the basket, likely all-star LaMarcus Aldridge scored on a layup, trimming the Kings’ lead to three.

In the ensuing possession, Trailblazers forward Gerald Wallace forced Thornton into a turnover. However, Portland was unable to capitalize on the opportunity and missed two three-point attempts before time expired.

The victory improves the Kings record to 7-15 overall, 5-4 at home. Next up for Sacramento?  A rematch with the Golden State Warriors, who defeated the Kings 93-90 in Oakland on Tuesday.

by James Ham and Jonathan Santiago

Photo: Kings.com/Scott Monaco

Jimmer Fredette made his return to the beehive state when the Sacramento Kings played the Utah Jazz Saturday.  The result was a loss, but the homecoming atmosphere was special for the Kings rookie, who spent four years in Provo playing for BYU.  Cowbell Kingdom’s James Ham spoke to Jimmer one-on-one about the experience and his new documentary film about his life following practice yesterday.  We bring that conversation to you in this week’s Cowbell Kingdom Podcast.

Highlights

• Jimmer says he wasn’t surprised by the mixed reaction he received from the Salt Lake City crowd.  “The University of Utah is right there.  And that’s our huge rival, so I’ve heard it all.  I’ve heard boos and I’ve heard cheers in that building, so you know, it’s nothing different.”

• On his documentary: ” It’s fun for me to see when they pieced it all together.  Some good home videos on there that even I didn’t see before got onto the film that my mom has had.”

• On his recent individual success: “I knew it was going to be a learning curve in the beginning.  But, (I’m) starting to figure it out, starting to figure out when (I can) get my shot off, where I can shoot it, all these things – and the shots are going in.  And I have confidence in my ability to shoot and so does the coaching staff and the players.  They get me the ball in good situations to score and that’s what I’ve been trying to do.”

You can purchase Jimmer’s documentary “The Making of Jimmer” over at the Deseret Book.

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by Jonathan Santiago and James Ham

Poor interior defense killed the Sacramento Kings, who lost big, 122-93, to the visiting Denver Nuggets Wednesday night.

“Not what I expected,” said head coach Keith Smart postgame. “I’m sure that wasn’t what our fans expected either.  I’m kind of embarrassed for our fans to watch us play that way, but we have to deal with it when things aren’t going well – on the road or at home.”

Sacramento allowed 92 points in the paint in the 29-point blowout.  The Kings inability to defend inside in their final January home game allowed the Nuggets to shoot 54.9 percent from the field.

A 13-0 Nuggets run midway through the second quarter broke the game open and increased the Kings deficit to 17.  Nuggets forward Danilo Gallinari scored nine of Denver’s points during that span and would finish leading all scorers with 23 points and five assists.

Jimmer Fredette and DeMarcus Cousins were the Kings’ only bright spots.  Fredette, who started in place of the injured Marcus Thornton, finished with 19 points, his third-straight game in double digits.  Cousins, meanwhile, finished with 17 points and 15 rebounds, his fifth-consecutive game with a double-double.

by Jonathan Santiago and James Ham

With the March 1st relocation deadline quickly approaching, the conversation regarding a new Sacramento entertainment and sports complex is about to ramp up in coming weeks.  KFBK reporter and CK contributor Rob McAllister joins us to break down the latest in the arena project.

Excerpt from McAllister’s recent story on hotel contributions:

While the figure is still being negotiated, representatives with the Sacramento Convention and Visitors Bureau appear to be ready to write a yearly check.

“Six figures at the very least, more likely seven figures,” said Mike Testa, the Senior Vice President of Convention Sales & Business Development.

Based on a 30 year span, which is typically the life of an arena, that could mean between $20-million and $30-million of the estimated $400-million cost of the proposed downtown sports and entertainment complex.

“There are no commitments as far as amounts but we are working through the (Convention and Visitors Bureau),” Sacramento Marriott General Manager, Doug Warren said.

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