The Sacramento Kings held Wednesday practice in preparation of Thursday’s game against the Los Angeles Clippers.  Below, some notes, observations and video.

Thornton trying to round out his game

Averaging 18.3 points per game, Thornton has proven he can score, especially in bunches and from deep.  Rebounding is another facet of his game the Kings guard is working to develop.

“I’m trying to set my goal to at least five or six a game,” Thornton said of how many boards he’d ideally like to average.  “A couple offensive rebounds here and there, you know defensive rebounds, too.”

Since the promotion of Isaiah Thomas to starting point guard, Thornton feels his off-ball play has improved, particularly in transition.

“When you have Isaiah running point guard, he finds people,” Thornton said.  “It makes it much easier for me and Tyreke (Evans) to get out there on the break, go score easy baskets.”

Kings head coach Keith Smart complimented Thornton’s cutting ability.

“He’s getting more layups now than he did earlier,” Smart told reporters.  “Before he maybe missed three jump shots (and) he kept shooting.  But now, we have guys who will pass the ball to him and he’s getting chances to make plays by getting to the basket.”

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The streak is over.

Marcus Thornton and Isaiah Thomas caught fire in the second half, leading the Sacramento Kings to the 115-107 road victory over the Washington Wizards.  The win ends a season-high six-game losing skid.

Thornton scored 18 of his 22 points after intermission.  Thomas added 16 points in the third and fourth quarters combined and finished with 18 points and six assists.

Tyreke Evans did a ton of damage in the first half, scoring 20 of his 22 points before intermission.  DeMarcus Cousins added 16 points and grabbed 16 rebounds, but joined Evans on the bench in the deciding fourth quarter.  Following an impressive performance in Miami, veteran Francisco Garcia gave a spirited effort off the Kings bench with 12 points on 5-for-11 shooting.

Wizards guard John Wall barely missed a triple-double, finishing with 21 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds in defeat.  Sixth man Jordan Crawford lit up the Kings, scoring 32 points on 12-for-19 shooting.  The second-year guard scored 15 in the second quarter, helping his team to a 68-60 lead at halftime.  Unfortunately for the Wizards, they faded in the second half where they were outscored 55-39 on the way to an eight-point loss.

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The Sacramento Kings continue their six-game road trip in New York, where they’ll witness Lin-sanity for the first and only time this season.

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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

Listen after the jump…

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“Small Market, Big Heart” is a documentary detailing the 27-year history (and counting) of the Sacramento Kings.  It’s also about the capital region’s battle to establish identity through its only major pro sports franchise.  The film is directed by Tobin Halsey and produced by Blake Ellington and Cowbell Kingdom’s own James Ham.  It premieres tonight at the Crest Theater in Downtown Sacramento.

A conversation with the filmmakers in this week’s Cowbell Kingdom podcast.

• Ham on how the story is told: “When we decided to do this, we wanted to look at it from four different approaches.  We wanted to tell the story from the media’s eye.  We wanted to tell the story through the politician’s eye.  We wanted to tell the story through the team’s eye.  And lastly, through the fan’s eye.”

• Ellington on why the film is an extension of the fan’s voice:  ”After they decided to stay, we needed to have a direction as far as what we wanted to do, having a voice going forward.  And the documentary itself, I think is going to come out at a time when the community’s voice still needs to be heard.  And this is really going to demonstrate…how important professional sports and entertainment is to this region.”

• Trying to beat the March 1st relocation deadline, the filmmakers produced this film in a condensed time frame.  It was a challenge, says Halsey.  ”When we started talking about it, we knew that it was going to be intense.  That, especially at the finish, there would be very little sleep.  We didn’t have a crew of people to work with – a large crew of people.  We had lots of people that helped, but we didn’t have a full production crew.  We had to do all this stuff on an abbreviated time frame, but you know, some of the best stuff is done like this.”

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Kings VP of Basketball Ops Geoff Petrie discusses the Kings pre-draft process following today’s workout.

Left - Klay Thompson, Right - Alec Burks

Another day, another six.  At their training facility today, the Kings matched-up Alec Burks and Klay Thompson, the two highest-rated shooting guards in the 2011 NBA Draft.  This wasn’t the first time these two have worked out against each other in a pre-draft workout, but it was the first time the Kings had two lottery-bound prospects who play the same position go head-to-head.  Burks and Thompson headlined a group that also included small forwards Ravern Johnson and Jamine Peterson, as well as big men Greg Smith and Alex Stepheson.

Video and analysis after the jump.

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Left - Kawhi Leonard, Right - Scotty Hopson

There’s been a seismic belief shift on what could happen when the Kings pick next Thursday.  A week ago, Kawhi Leonard looked like a lock to fill the Kings’ gaping hole at small forward.  That all changed when BYU’s Jimmer Fredette rolled into town and turned heads.  Today was Leonard’s chance to bring wandering eyes back his way.

Leonard must show that he is the complete package and a true upgrade over Omri Casspi, Francisco Garcia and Donté Greene.  There is no doubt the Kings like Leonard (they have sent scouts to visit him at least three times).  But with Jimmermania sweeping Sacramento, can Kawhi make the impact he needs to get back into the mix at pick number seven?

The Kings brought in an eclectic group of players of varying shapes and sizes.  Apparently, the Kings front office wanted to see Leonard perform against a variety of players.  Of the other players in town today, only Scotty Hopson is projected to be drafted.

Video and analysis after the jump.

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With the NBA Draft just one week away, we’re ramping up the podcast schedule.  How will it all play out before the Kings make their selection with the seventh overall pick?   To sort through all the draft chatter we’re hearing, we welcomed Sports Illustrated’s Sam Amick to the show.

Highlights

• On Leonard: “The personality and the life story, that’s part of why he’s moving up the board because he’s got an ego in a sense that he’s confident about himself, but he’s not a young guy that’s going to come in saying that ‘man I can’t wait to get my 12, 13 shots.’  He just wants to fit in, work hard and be a good NBA player.”
• On Kings scouting: “I was told that three different members – Geoff Petrie, Wayne Cooper & Shareef Abdur-Rahim I think it was, had all made separate trips to see Jan Vesley, which I think tells you something (about their interest).  But there’s similar stories about Kawhi.”
• And as far as Brandon Knight working out against JimmerFredette & Kemba Walker before next Thursday?  Sam doesn’t see it happening

Tune-in after the jump.

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