by James Ham and Jonathan Santiago

Play hard.

That’s all new Sacramento Kings head coach Keith Smart emphasized to his team following an abysmal 37-point first-half.

The Kings went on to score 66 total points after the intermission, overcoming a 21-point deficit to topple the Milwaukee Bucks 103-100 in the final game of their lone back-to-back-to-back set this season.

“I didn’t going in with a rah-rah speech,” Smart said postgame. “I just said play hard and things will start to happen.”

Photo: Jonathan Santiago

A tumultuous week for Paul Westphal has ended today in his dismissal as Sacramento Kings head coach.

Former King Beno Udrih was caught off guard by the news.

“I was surprised and I’m still surprised,” the now-Bucks guard said to reporters following the end of Milwaukee’s shoot-around at Power Balance Pavilion this afternoon. “Coach Paul Westphal is a great coach.  He was a great coach to me.  We had a great relationship.  I had basically my best year of my career playing under him, so I’m a little surprised of the news.”

In two seasons under Westphal, Udrih averaged career highs in points per game, field goal and three-point percentage.  Despite Udrih’s improved play, the Kings managed to win only 49 games with Westphal at the helm.

“We are in this business (and) you never know what’s going to happen,” the former Kings point guard continued.  “Unfortunately, I’m a little sad to see him go, but I think he’s going to just do fine.  He definitely is a quality coach.  He’s going to get some opportunity somewhere else, so I wish him all the best.”

Read more…

After catching up with Tyreke Evans last week, we’re happy to continue that theme by touching base with another member of the Sacramento Kings. Today, we welcomed Kings big man Jason Thompson to the program.

Highlights

• During a workout session at the Kings practice facility in June, Thompson broke a toe in his right foot.  With no access to Kings training staff during the lockout, JT has rehabbed on his own with a little help from the NFL.  “Since I’m living in Philly in the offseason, I went through with the Eagles and used their doctors and facilities and had my agency get that done.”
• Thompson on his third NBA season: “Every year I look at it as trying to have high expectations.  I just think last year that I didn’t have the opportunity that I thought I would have coming into the season.  Not saying that as an excuse or anything like that.  But I just know I learned different things, knowing that you could control only what you could control.  I was happy that even though that there were bumpy times in the season, I know that I felt like I took it in the right matter – didn’t put my head down or anything like that.  And then I finished on a good note.”
• On the emotional last home game at ARCO: “The fans still stayed after.  They were cheering and I was just like ‘man I can’t go out like this.’  So after I showered and stuff, just came out and gave my respect.  And who knew if that was the last time I could see Kings fans in this arena.  You know, i f you can’t take 10, 15, 20 minutes out of your time, especially since that was the last game of the season to give your respects, then you really don’t have a respect for the game or the fans.”

One more additional note.  Thompson has started a foundation with the goal of serving underprivileged youth.  The L.I.V.E. Like JT (Learn, Imagine, Voice, Educate) campaign is just getting under way and a website is in the works.  But if you’d like to learn more or find out how you can help, visit Thompson’s official website.

Listen after the jump…

Read more…

The ESPN 5-on-5 roundtable has been rolling out individual team previews lately and today it was Kings turn to hit the circuit.  Here is a snippet.

4. Fact or Fiction: Sacramento’s pre-lockout trades were smart moves.

Joe Gerrity, Hornets 24/7: Fiction. Acquiring Hickson for Casspi was a positive move, but the rest of it seems like a loss. Salmons has an expensive long-term deal and doesn’t fit in or improve the team, they gave up the seventh overall pick, and I already gave my prediction about Jimmer.

James Ham, Cowbell Kingdom: Fact. I am in the minority here, but I like the moves. Salmons is a huge improvement at the wing and Jimmer is a very good fit with Evans and Cousins. Adding Hickson minutes before the lockout began cleared up the logjam at the wing and gave the Kings some needed athleticism. All of this and still $28 million under the cap.

Zach Harper, Daily Dime Live: Half fact, half fiction. Overall, I’m happy with the direction the team took. I think Jimmer can be a weapon in this league, and they got some needed frontcourt depth by dealing away Casspi, whom they couldn’t really figure out how to use anyway. I just don’t understand why it was necessary to bring on Salmons’ bad contract in order to draft Jimmer three spots later.

Jonathan Santiago, Cowbell Kingdom: Fact. The reacquisition of John Salmons probably makes the most impact because the Kings lacked consistency at small forward last year. Picking up Salmons improves them defensively and also adds a veteran with playoff experience to a relatively young team. Not a popular move among fans because of Salmons’ penchant for overdribbling during his last tenure, but a fair trade nonetheless.

Noam Schiller, Hardwood Paroxysm: Fiction. Trading the superfluous Omri Casspi for the potential-laden J.J. Hickson was a low-risk, high-reward move. But Beno Udrih is cheaper than John Salmons, and better by every metric available. Switching the two for the right to move down in the draft was a downright idiotic move.

You can read the rest, which includes takes on the futures of DeMarcus Cousins, Tyreke Evans and Jimmer Fredette, here. And check out the Kings video preview under the ESPN video playlist located on the right column, too.

Photo: Steven Chea/CK

Highlights

• On working out with Derrick Rose and Russell Westbrook: “When we work out together, we always do different things.  There’s things that I do better than them and there’s things they do better than me.  So it’s always good to work out with them and try to learn new things from their games.”
• Tyreke is no stranger to the game of new teammate JJ Hickson.  He says he’s known the Kings newest addition for “a long time”, having battled against Hickson in high school.
• Amar’e Stoudemire hopes to round up teammates for an unofficial Knicks training camp.  Zach Randolph has expressed doing the same with his Grizzlies .  Is Tyreke planning something similar for the Kings? “I was thinking about that, calling some of the players up, trying to get them to Sacramento early.  I know it’s going to be pretty hard for the rookies because they haven’t set up yet with (homes).  But I mean, the guys that have been playing, the veterans and the guys who have been playing a couple years on our team…I was definitely thinking of calling them up and (trying) to get a local gym in Sacramento and having a training camp.”
• Tyreke has been keeping busy this offseason also through his work with VSP Vision Care.  We highlighted one of two videos he starred in from a four-part webisode series, which offers vision health tips.  Check the rest on the Eyefiles tab of VSP’s Facebook Page.

Tune-in after the jump.

Read more…

The Sacramento Kings made a substantial trade on draft day 2011.  Early reports had the Kings moving down in the draft three spots and dealing Beno Udrih to the Milwaukee Bucks, but no word of what was coming back to Sacramento in the transaction.  You could hear the tension build on the streets of the River City and then…oh…no…they…didn’t.

That’s right Kings fans, John Salmons.

Bedlam erupted on twitter and fan sites like Sactown Royalty.  I scurried off to the arena for the official announcement, even texting then-media relations member and newly appointed Director of Public Relations, Chris Clark, something about about bringing a fire extinguisher in case a riot broke out and my car was lit on fire.

More after the jump…

Read more…

Editors Note: This interview took place on Wednesday, June 29, 2011 before the NBA locked out their players.

Welcome to part II of the Cowbell Kingdom summer interview series with Coach Paul Westphal.  The Sacramento Kings dropped a bombshell on their fan base just hours before the 2011 NBA draft when they reacquired journeyman small forward John Salmons.  Confusion, anger, utter disbelief reigned as fans lined up single file on the Tower Bridge and jumped to their deaths in the icy water below.  Not really, but between the Salmons trade and rumors that Sam Dalembert has very little interest in returning to the Sacramento Kings, a lot of fans lost sleep.  Thankfully, fans don’t get to make the hard decisions, men with years of NBA experience do.

James Ham: You just brought in Salmons and that gives you five small forwards (pre-Omri Casspi trade), how is that situation going to settle out?  Is there going to be some movement there?

Coach Westphal: Like I said, we’re not through with our roster yet.  You can never know what move you can make, particularly now because we don’t know what the collective bargaining rules are going to be.  But there will be moves made with our roster, I don’t think we’ll go in with five small forwards with a twelve man roster, but several of those players are flexible and can play multiple positions.  A lot of this will be addressed when it’s possible to address it.

Read more after the jump.

Read more…

Jimmer Fredette, Tyler Honeycutt and Isaiah Thomas show off their duds.

Thursday morning, rumors began flying that the Kings were involved in a three team, five player, three draft pick deal that sent point guard Beno Udrih to the Milwaukee Bucks and brought John Salmons back to Sacramento.  Since then, it has been a wild ride in the river city.
Read more…

Spurs GM R.C. Buford on the reports of Tony Parker’s availability, via Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express-News:

“We’re not shopping anyone,” Buford said, via text message. “We’ve received calls on a lot of our guys and we’ve answered the phone.”

For the right deal however, perhaps a trade for Tony Parker can be done.  ESPN’s Marc Stein tweeted earlier today that the Spurs would only trade Parker if Richard Jefferson is part of a deal.  The Kings have enough cap room to absorb both Jefferson and Parker’s salaries in a straight-up trade for the seventh pick.  But you figure the Kings would try throw in either the contract of Beno Udrih or Francisco Garcia into a potential blockbuster.

Update (12:58 pm): According to Draft Express, the Spurs might be looking at the option of dealing George Hill also (via SLAM)…

Photo by Steven Chea

Late news from yesterday- Kings.com’s Nate Rose is reporting that starting power forward Jason Thompson is a no-go tonight against the Boston Celtics.  Veteran Samuel Dalembert, who has had tremendous success over the last few games, will start in Thompson’s place.

Before the injury to Thompson, Coach Paul Westphal had started the line-up of Tyreke Evans, Beno Udrih, Omri Casspi, Jason Thompson and DeMarcus Cousins five consecutive games.  That stretch is the longest that any one group has started together the entire season.