Head Coach Paul Westphal addressed media about DeMarcus Cousins’ trade demand before tonight’s Hornets/Kings game. Below are a few points of interest pulled from the scrum with Westphal on the developing drama surrounding the Kings big man.
Westphal says Cousins has demanded to be traded twice. The most recent trade demand came last night. However, the first request came Christmas Eve – on the final day of training camp. At the end of practice, Westphal and Cousins spoke one-on-one and the Kings center appeared visibly frustrated during the conversation. During media availability following practice, Cowbell Kingdom asked Westphal about the exchange, but he refused to comment.
According to Sports Illustrated’s Sam Amick, Cousins’ agent John Greig denied the trade request. Commenting on the denial, Westphal said: “Well, it’s interesting that he told me before he told his agent, but he told me twice. So it’s silly to have the agent deny it just because he didn’t get a call before DeMarcus talked to me that’s the easiest one of all to answer.”
Westphal doesn’t know if Cousins will be on the upcoming road trip that includes stops in Memphis and Denver. The trip is also the start of the Kings’ only back-to-back-to-back set of games this season.
When asked if the Kings will explore trading Cousins, Westphal said: “You’ll have to ask Geoff (Petrie) about that.”
“I believed we would pull together and play with energy, and really play hard and play together,” Head Coach Paul Westphal said after the 16-point victory. “That’s exactly what happened. You can never tell if you’re going to win or lose, but I think we gave a big effort.”
After a sluggish first half, the Kings took control of the game midway through the 3rd quarter. Leading 53-48, they went on an 11-0 run and never looked back.
Tyreke Evans had his best performance of the season leading the Kings in scoring with 27 points on 9-of-18 shooting. Fellow backcourt-mate Marcus Thornton also had a standout performance, scoring 25 points and recording five steals in the win.
You may be familiar with ESPN.com’s 5-on-5 roundtables, which feature opinion and analysis from ESPN writers and TrueHoop Network contributors on pressing NBA topics. Along with other THN blogs, Cowbell Kingdom has brought that format to the local level in the form of our own 3-on-3 roundtable.
From the get-go, the Sacramento Kings played catch-up tonight.
The Kings were outscored by 15 and gave up 35 points in the first quarter of their 114-92 loss to the New York Knicks on New Year’s Eve. They never recovered from a 12-0 Knicks run midway through the first, resulting in their third loss of the season.
“Well, they jumped on us early,” Head Coach Paul Westphal said postgame. “They were hitting threes, they were executing, and they jumped on us 35-20. and we were never really able to crawl back in the game.”
The Knicks captured victory without Amar’e Stoudemire, who sat out with a sprained left ankle, and just a quiet 23 points in only 33 minutes by Carmelo Anthony.
The New York Knicks roll into town riding a two-game, west-coast losing streak. Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni has a bright shiny new toy in defensive specialist Tyson Chandler. While the Heat have their “big three” down in Miami, the Knicks hope the trio of Stoudemire, Anthony and Chandler are enough to give the Heat a run for their money. Young guards Toney Douglas and Landry Fields are off to a rough start, but the Knicks have very little backcourt depth, while Baron Davis (back) and rookie Iman Shumpert (knee) recover from injury.
Coach Paul Westphal let his team have it after selfish play and missed free throws cost the Sacramento Kings Thursday night against Chicago. The Kings have yet to get consistent play from franchise building blocks DeMarcus Cousins and Tyreke Evans. Per 36 minutes, Cousins is averaging 19.4 points and 15.3 rebounds, but foul trouble has limited the second-year big man to just under 27 minutes per game. Evans is shooting 14-percent from behind the arc and has yet to find a rhythm with backcourt-mate Marcus Thornton or wing John Salmons. Coach Westphal desperately needs his young team to gel as they begin an incredibly difficult stretch that includes five games over the next six nights.
Off days are limited in this compressed, 66-game NBA season. So, the Kings held practice today following last night’s 108-98 defeat at the hands of the Chicago Bulls.
The first hour of practice is closed to media. But when the curtain was raised this afternoon, the scene on the court was no surprise, considering how the Kings lost last night’s game.
Head Coach Paul Westphal had the team running a fastbreak drill.
The Bulls outscored the Kings by 19 transition points yesterday evening, and with the high-octane New York Knicks coming to town, remedying the transition defense was a crucial part of today’s session.
Before the Sacramento Kings took to the court to battle the Chicago Bulls Thursday night, I caught up with rookie Jimmer Fredette in the Kings locker room. It’s not often you find Jimmer without a media crowd, so I was glad to get a little one-on-one time with the former BYU star. Jimmer is off to a perfectly fine start as a rookie, topping his career high in points-scored in each game played. While Jimmer is known for his shooting prowess, he has been a pleasant surprise as both a distributor and defender.
CK: You’re going against Derrick Rose tonight. What’s it like to face off against a young guy who has really taken off – a league MVP?
Jimmer: I’ve met Derrick before. He’s a really good guy, he’s a very hard worker and obviously a great player in this league – an MVP. He can do some things that people can’t do in this league. He’s just so fast and quick and he can shoot the ball. He has good vision, he’s a tough guard. It’s exciting for me to get to play against him and for our whole team to be able to play against this team to kind of measure ourselves, see how we’re doing this year because they’re one of the top teams. They made it to the Eastern Conference Finals last year and they’re looking to do the same this year. It’s a good test for us and I’m really looking forward to playing him and their whole team.
“We could have and should have won that game,” said Head Coach Paul Westphal following tonight’s 108-98 loss to the Chicago Bulls. “And it’s not an excuse for our team to be young.”
Tonight’s contest was a game of runs between both clubs, with the Bulls edging out the Kings in the end. Defense, especially in transition, was not stellar. The Bulls scored 33 fastbreak points against the Kings in the victory. And missed free throws cost Sacramento 14 easy points.
John Salmons played 30 minutes and Travis Outlaw picked up 18; between those two and some smallball minutes with Evans and even Thornton at small forward, last season’s threes were one possession from being shut out. Chuck Hayes played 27 minutes up front, (DeMarcus) Cousins had 25 and Hickson picked up 22; those three plus (Jason) Thompson’s nominal time and Outlaw’s power forward spells accounted for all of that. (Francisco) Garcia couldn’t get space in front of (Tyreke) Evans, (Marcus) Thornton, Jimmer Fredette (26 minutes) or Isaiah Thomas (13).
After last night’s game, I asked Coach Westphal if this is the rotation he hopes to continue using as the season moves forward:
As long as we’re healthy, I think this is the framework we’re trying to set. Players off the bench, sometimes their minutes will grow depending on foul trouble and the flow of the game. But I like the way our starters fit and I think as long as we’re healthy, this is the way we’ve always anticipated going, and I think it’s a real good way to play.
In front of a sellout crowd tonight at Power Balance Pavilion, the Kings avenged last season’s emotional home finale defeat to the Los Angeles Lakers by beating their Southern California Rivals, 100 to 91.
If not for the city’s tenacious fight to keep the Kings last Spring, this evening’s game might have been played in Anaheim rather than Sacramento.
“It’s nice to be back,” said Head Coach Paul Westphal following the win. “It was loud in there and our players really liked the feeling of that game. The fans were just fantastic.”
which feature opinion and analysis from ESPN writers and TrueHoop Network contributors on pressing NBA topics. Along with other THN blogs, Cowbell Kingdom has brought that format to the local level in the form of our own 3-on-3 roundtable.
