Seats in Sec. 222 Row N:  $10 each

2 beers at the game, one for each half:  $15

Being reunited with my old friend, Arco Magic:  Priceless

One home game into the season, I've now attended as many games as I did all of last year (I couldn't miss Vlade's retirement).  I figured I should take advantage of this rare opportunity to share some of my in-the-arena observations and present my first ever game recap.  I'm sure you already all know the main storylines, who sucked and who was Hawesome, so I'll try to stay away from the obvious stuff and add a little color to what you were able to see in the broadcast/boxscore/legitimate recaps.

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Let me preface this by saying that I do not watch college basketball.  At all.  You could tell me that Poopscoop McGee led the nation in scoring this year and I would believe you.  The entirety of my opinions on this draft class are based solely on what I read; mostly, other peoples' opinions of this draft class.

So, this has really been a learning experience for me over the last couple of weeks being involved with trying to figure out who we think the Kings should take in this draft and who we think they will take in this draft, with varying degrees of overlap.  There is, of course, the nebulous situación de Rubio- I'm pretty sure that most of us would be happy and excited to see the young Spaniard in a Kings jersey, and most of us would agree that if he's available at #4 we're definitely taking him.

Beyond that, things get more interesting.  It almost seems like every day brings a new "buzz man", and I learn about them and wonder about them (Holiday, Evans, Kleine).  It occurred to me though that something doesn't quite feel right about this process.  The part of the conversation about who we think the Kings should take is fine; we all have our various opinions on players and on the direction the team should take.  I've been feeling, however, like maybe the conversation about who we think the Kings will take is lacking.  I'm hoping this post will provide a bit of an impetus for that conversation.

I think what may be bugging me a bit right now is that most of the players we've been talking about the Kings taking with their first pick may have a lot of good things going for them, but they don't feel right to me.  They don't feel like Petrie picks.  I won't pretend that I've got GP all figured out (though I do feel like I understand Petrie a gazillion times better than Chad Ford does), but I think we can look at his drafting history and identify a few things that would give a pretty good indication of what he's likely to do this time:

1.  The number one attribute that Petrie values in a player is a high level of skill.  Primarily shooting skill, I would contend, but also passing and ballhandling.  Not size, not athletic ability (one exception I could come up with was Tariq Abdul Wahad, who I recall as being a freak athlete with little else to offer.  Maybe Petrie learned his leason?).  That's not to say that the players he drafts don't have size or athleticism, but this is not the reason they were drafted.  Peja, Hedo, Shawes, and others all have good size for their position, but they were drafted because of their (offensive) skills, not their size.

2.  We're not likely to trade down, or up for that matter.  If Petrie really falls for Rubio (or Griffin), I could see him trying to put something together to try to get him, but my gut says this won't happen.  I think in regards to Rubio, assuming that's Geoff's top choice, he'll sit patiently in the 4 spot that the Lottery Gods damned him with and take him if he falls to us.  Otherwise, he'll happily take the guy that he loves slightly less, whoever that may be.  Even if he's pretty sure he could get his man later by trading down, I don't see this happening either.  For one thing, it's just not Geoff's style.  I'm sure just about every year we could've traded down a bit and still gotten our guy.  Also, there would have to be another team that wants our 4 spot bad enough to give us a worthwhile offer for it, and it appears that this year's draft doesn't really setup that scenario very well.

3.  Geoff Petrie is his own expert.  Buzz doesn't matter, hype doesn't matter.  He trusts his scouts and he trusts himself.  And he's almost always right.

Now, moving on to the speculation.  Again, I'm very open about my ignorance of pretty much all of the players we could draft.  There is, however, one player that makes me wonder why we haven't really been talking about him much yet.  Stephen Curry.  My impression, loose as it may be, is that he is probably the most skilled player in this draft maybe other than Rubio (and Griffin?).  And he's got pretty good size.  And he plays our position of biggest need.  Maybe he's not necessarily a "true point guard", but what would give us even the slightest indication that Petrie is looking for a "true point guard"?  It's been talked about often on StR before that the Princeton Offense doesn't really need a "true point guard" to distribute the ball.  It needs someone who can pass, and primarily someone who can shoot.  It looks to me like Curry would fit this role quite well.  When studying up on him, the player that came to mind was Mike Bibby.  Coincidentally, I checked out his profile on Draft Express and they list his "Best Case" as Mr. Bibby himself (and his "Worst Case" as Jannero Pargo, but we can ignore that).

Is Curry a reach at #4?  Who wouldn't be considered a reach this year?  Was JT a reach at #12?  Spence at #10?  So why not Curry?  Seriously, please tell me why not, since a lot of you know a lot more than I do about these guys.  Maybe we can at least get Amick to write a blog entry titled "Kings might maybe should be interested in Curry" so that Chad Ford will pickup on it and have us taking him in his next mock.

Joe Maloof walks into Geoff Petrie's office:

Joe:  Hey Geoff, how are the workouts coming along?

GP:  They're going well, Joe, there's really

Joe:  That's great.  Draft Rubio.

GP:  I'm sorry?

Joe:  Geoff, you know I won't tell you who to pick.  You're the best in the business at what you do, and I trust you to do your job.  But pick Rubio.

GP:  <sigh>  Well, Ricky looked good, but I'm eager to

Joe:  We need him, Geoff.  We're bleeding.

GP:  Talent will fill the seats.

Joe:  Talent will fill the seats?  Don't be a child, Geoff.  I don't want talent, I want a spanish sensation!

GP:  Okay, settle down, let's just

Joe:  I've got a fever and the only prescription is Ricky Rubio!

GP:  <rubbing his temples>  Alright Joe, if he drops to us at #4, we'll pick Rubio.

Joe:  Don't talk to me about dropping, just go get him.  I don't care, trade the skinny kid with the bad haircut, whatever.

GP:  I'll have to take a good look at our options, there may be... are you sobbing?

Joe:  <pulls out a handkerchief and takes a seat>  Have you ever been to a Jonas Brothers concert, Geoff?

GP:  What?

Joe:  Of course you haven't.  Even if you wanted to, you couldn't get a ticket.  It's sold-out before you can get your wallet out.  That's a sensation.

GP:  What are you saying?

Joe:  I'm saying Rubio.  I'm saying merchandise.  Do you know how many damn T-shirts we're going to sell?  Yo deseo Rubio!  That's one of my T-shirt ideas.  Pass that along to the apparel team for me.  <wipes his eyes and stands up>  I gotta run.  Good talk, Geoff.

GP:  As always, Joe.

I worry that this may be seen as more aggressive than I intend it, so please don't take it that way.  I'm really not trying to call anyone out; this is a great site because we often have differing opinions and ideally we are respectful of these differences.  That being said, I feel the need firmly state my stance on what is becoming the number one issue of this team because I am seeing a lack of "my side" being represented otherwise.  Maybe I've missed it, and maybe I'm just wrong; please feel free to correct me.

The issue I'm concerned with is the question of what we Kings fans want to see from this team for the rest of the season.  In other words, what are we hoping for?  The way I see it, our hopes lay closer to one of two extremes: you're hoping we end up with the worst record and therefore the best chance at the #1 pick, or you're hoping the team wins out, pick be damned.  I, firmly, am of the latter extreme.

Keep in mind, this is about hopes, not reasonable expectations.  I don't reasonably think the Kings will win every one of their remaining games, but that's what I'm hoping for.  Under that scenario, our team is drastically better by the end of the season than it is now, both on an individual player basis (development of the young'uns, clutch performance), and the team as a whole (building of team chemistry, ability to finish-out tough games), and this is measured by actual wins, not moral victories (close losses to good opponents, etc.).  By fretting that we won't end up with the worst record, we're essentially hoping that our team is just as crappy through the rest of the season as we are now.  I worry much more about what that  would do to the culture of this team than what Petrie would do with the #8 pick instead of #1 or #2.

In summary, SCREW THE TOP PICK.  As we all know, having the worst record doesn't guarantee the top pick anyways (I know, I know, the best odds, guaranteed top 4, blah blah blah).  For the sake of full disclosure, I don't watch college ball.  Blake Griffin could well be a futre All-Star, and maybe I'd be singing a different tune if I had a personal opinion about the man who will be #1.  What I do know is, we already have a Power Forward that I'm pretty damn juiced about (okay, it's no secret I'm a little bit in love with JT), and what I think we need in the long term is a franchise Point Guard, so I say for the rest of the season let's win some GD games, draft the best Point Guard on the board when we pick, and let's turn this shit train around!  Who's with me?

This made me choke a little bit on my granola bar when I read it this morning (in the Sac Bee "Kings Notes"):

"I've worked with Spence (Hawes) and tried to teach him, and I've been working with Jason (Thompson) and trying to tell him to shut up and just play," Miller said.

I don't really want to take a dump on Brad on his way out of town; I think he leaves us with a lot of good memories and I don't think he's a bad dude at all.  I do think he has some personal issues and as a whole his crap attitude has been a bad influence on our team.  However, I had no idea that he's full-fledged delusional.  Or is it possible that he's exceedingly self-aware and hilarious?  We may never know the answer for sure, but I'd like to believe the latter for the sake of his legacy.

Alright, I know nobody gives a crap about my kooky "reality show" angle on this Levien hire, but it occurred to me  that this would help to explain why Levien would leave behind millions of dollars to do this:

A.  I haven't produced any reality shows before (though I have come up with some pretty awesome concepts... should I take the time to describe my "Race my Space" idea?  No, not here..), but I'm pretty sure if the Maloofs really do get this tv show going and they're making a substantial amount of money from it, and this Levien guy is a big part of the show, I would assume that he would be somehow compensated for this.

B.  Maybe Levien has always wanted to be a "star".

Now, I'm not cynical enough to think that the Maloofs would make this hire strictly to make their tv show better; apparently Levien knows something about basketball, and he's smart and savvy and talented and all that.  I don't think they would hire him unless they really thought he would benefit this basketball team in the short term and in the long term.  I'm sure Petrie's future and the need to plan for his eventual successor has a big part in this.  But let's look at some facts:

1.  I like making lists.

2.  The Maloofs are in the business of making money.  As that relates to their ownership of the Kings, business is bad.

3.  There's more than one way to skin a cat (or so I'm told), and there's more than one way to make money by owning a basketball team.  This is something the Maloofs understand probably better than anyone.

4.  If the Maloofs think they will make money by having a reality tv show about the Kings' business operations:

     a.  They are probably right.

     b.  The show will happen, no matter what anyone else thinks about it.

5.  Geoff Petrie isn't exactly  a "spotlight" kind of guy.  Whatever is the exact opposite of an attention whore, that's what Geoff Petrie is.  In fact, with the blaringly notable exception of Jerry Reynolds, I have a feeling that most of the Kings' front office folks would prefer to stay in the shadows.

6.  If you wanted a young, dynamic, personable guy to fill-up a lot of camera time on your basketball operations reality show, Levien would apparently fit the bill.  I see "candid" shots of Levien on heated phone conversations, and lots of them.  You know, something to show between shots of Maloof brothers schmoozing and Royal Court Dancers walking around looking hot.

Maybe it was just the fajitas and margaritas, but when I read about this hire last night it gave me a funny feeling in my stomach.  Like there was more to the story that had yet to be told.  I believe I've just told that story.  Time will tell whether I'm cleverly insightful, or just a crazy guy that loves Chevy's.  Rebuilding the Kingdom, indeed.

So I watched the game last night while my wife sat on the couch with me, mostly doing stuff on her laptop but intermittently watching the game as well.  After the game, as we watched the players hugging and talking on the court, we had roughly this conversation:

My Wife:  Who's that guy?

Me:  Mikki Moore.  The guy with the braids, right?

My Wife:  Yeah.  I like him.

Me:  Really?

My Wife:  Yeah.  I don't know, he just seems cool.

Me:  He's pretty cool.  You know, when he has a picnic he doesn't need a cooler, he just puts the perishables in his pocket.

My Wife:  <rolls eyes>

The point is, she was not paying much attention to the game, but of the attention that she did pay to it, the one thing that made an impression on her was the unearthly coolness of Mikki Moore.  Not Kevin Martin scoring at will, not Spencer's thrilling defensive plays, not Bobby Brown's sharpshooting (though she did laugh at my earnest yet flawed impression of Whitney saying Bobby Brown!), but Mikki's coolness beamed through the screen and hit her full in the chest.

I thought he had a pretty good game and I certainly appreciate his energy, enthusiasm, and rapport with his teammates, but my feeble mind will never understand the power of his coolness.  Whatever it is, he should bottle it and sell it.

p.s.  I did give credit to TZ for the "pershables" line, but only because it fell flat.