SB Nation User Blog: LeaguePassAddict

An Open Letter to Beno Udrih

LeaguePassAddict — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 18:01:05 -0000

See what happens when I've already read everything on StR? I start making up my own stuff. You've been warned.

Dear Beno

Funny how much can change in one short year. Last June there were posts about whether or not we could re-sign you, and this year, the big topic of conversation is which point guard should we draft to replace you.

I've been one of your biggest supporters on Sactown Royalty. But even I have come to believe that there is no chance for you to continue to be a starter for the worst team in the league. And that's really sad.

The realization has come to me, not because you are not capable, but because you're not here.

As soon as the season was over, you blew town and didn't look back. There's been no news about your whereabouts or activities. No workouts at the practice facility, no news of you hitting the gym at all. No indication that you plan to fight for your job.

The Sacramento Kings have the best fans in the league. They stick with the team and its individual players through thick and thin. Once you don a Kings uniform, you're a King every time you take the floor at Arco, no matter what color you're wearing. And some of the players we remember most fondly were either never considered stars anywhere but here, or didn't become stars until they left. Doug Christie. Michael "Yogi" Smith. Gerald Wallace. Hedo Turkoglu. Matt Barnes.

Since we as fans give such unconditional loyalty, we want the same kind of loyalty from you. Instead, all we see is a guy who became complacent as soon as he got his big contract.

I know that you make your home overseas. And that's ok. But you chose to sign here. You are taking millions of dollars a year to be a part of this team and this community.

So if you're feeling hurt, betrayed and angry that nobody seems to want you here anymore in any role besides back-up to the rookie point guard we draft, it's not because of your less-than-stellar stat line. It's because you don't seem to care. You don't seem to want to get better. And it's because we expect the Kings to be more to you than a job and a paycheck.

You've simply never shown that it is.

LPA

PS- Andres Nocioni, this same letter could be written to you, except that you came here in trade. Seriously, both of you need to stop complaining and just play like you care.

The Latest Ricky Rubio News

LeaguePassAddict — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 04:43:21 -0000

The Latest Ricky Rubio News

Chad Ford

Ricky Rubio Not Scheduled to Work Out for Memphis

LeaguePassAddict — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 00:22:10 -0000

Ricky Rubio Not Scheduled to Work Out for Memphis

From The Memphis Edge

So if OKC wants Thabeeeeeeeeet......

"I don't even know why they (the fans) should question that because we've done that in the past,"...

LeaguePassAddict — Sat, 23 May 2009 19:49:01 -0000

"I don't even know why they (the fans) should question that because we've done that in the past," said a frustrated Maloof. "We've paid the luxury tax in the past when we had a team competing for the championship. That shouldn't even be a question so I'm not gonna answer it. If there's a good free agent available, we'll go out and get the free agent. It's what we've done. Know the future and know the past, and know this: that we're gonna turn this franchise around. Everybody that's counting us out, well, count us out, you can go ahead and count us out, but don't count out the Maloofs, 'cause we're gonna turn this franchise around. Don't bank on us being down forever."

Gavin Maloof in Hoopsworld, proving to be a very good team owner indeed.

I want to have the current Kings watch films like this one. How to run a break 101

LeaguePassAddict — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 02:57:15 -0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHwlWQRCJk0

I want to have the current Kings watch films like this one.

How to run a break 101

Jason Thompson Article in Rider Alumni Newsletter

LeaguePassAddict — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 18:41:40 -0000

Jason Thompson Article in Rider Alumni Newsletter

"I think Jason was one of the most versatile big men in the Draft," Dempsey said. "At 6’11" there’s nothing he can’t do. He has a lot of character and he’s a terrific player all around. He’ll be able to represent the organization in Sacramento just like he did here at Rider. He’s a perfect ambassador and he’ll bring the same qualities to the Kings that he was able to bring to Rider."

The Voice of Sanity... JT vs. C-Webb and the Mailman

LeaguePassAddict — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 22:38:29 -0000

Jason Thompson has been compared in recent days to Webber and Karl Malone. So in the interest of fairness and giving TZ a little down time, I did some research.

I decided that the best way to compare the three players was to look at their college stats from the last year they played for their respective schools. I've put these numbers into the table below.

There are a couple of caveats, though. First, for some odd reason, Webber's rebounding and turnover stats from college have vanished from all the player profile pages I looked at. And second, though I tried my best to find the stats for him, apparently God never played college ball. Sorry, Section.

	FG%	3pt%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TO	PPG
JT	56.1	32.4	58.1	12.1	2.7	1.1	2.7	2.9	20.4
CW	61.9	33.8	55.2	???	2.5	1.4	2.5	???	19.2
KM	54.1	0.0	57.1	9.0	1.4	1.5	.5	2.5	16.5

Valid arguments can be made about Thompson playing for a small school in a weaker conference, and I'm sure JT's the best player Rider has ever seen, so his numbers may be a liitle inflated.

Only time will tell what kind of player he turns out to be. I like his game so far, He seems to have a lot of Webber's smoothness and instincts, but it's way too early to call Thompson the second coming of C-Webb.

I think this statistical comparison shows that Jason Thompson belongs in the league, and that, being a 12th pick, he'll end up surprising a lot of people. And at this point, I'm happy with that.