It comes down to this, the defense got dismantled in the second half. 

-Chris Johnson was a serious problem, this could (and probably will) become an even bigger problem against NYJ and NE.

-We had one more stop to make and Wimbley got mixed up, leaving his man wide open for the biggest play of the game. That one just baffled me. 

Offense is legit.

-If D.Moore and Hagan should be our starting Wideouts. Or maybe DHB and Moore with Hagan as the slot guy. 

-Dmac needs to realize how big that fumble was, we cant have our feature back dropping balls like that. 

-Bush had only 4 carries and he did work with them, why did we not use him more? Dmac was virtually stuffed in the second half, and I feel like the mix of Dmac and Bush is lethal to wear down defenses and keep that clock moving.

-Jason Cambell had a pretty solid game overall. He had alot of balls that were bailed out by Moores play making, but thats what the NFL is all about.

So we are 1-1, but thats not what worries me. We have the Jets and the Patriots coming into town. We gotta bring that energy to the stadium, dont let this lose discourage you. These Raiders are an offensive juggernaut, lets get it crazy against the Jets, Ill be there!!

Dear Nnamdi,

Stay with the Oakland Raiders and be the best CB in Raiders History (a tall task).

Nnam, you mean more to Oakland than a dominate CB. You were the bright spot when we sucked. If the money is close, come back aboard the ship and lets pillage through the AFC in hopes of bringin a title back to Oaktown

BTW, if you join the Niners you will look like a fruitcake wearing that jersey. 

Im just making this lil thread with hopes that our homie Nnamdi Asomugha sees it.

Everyone, act as if Nnam is reading this. What do you wanna say to the man?!

All this negativity surrounding our Kings moving to Anaheim has got me down. So for a change of pace, lets look at the prospects on our team and see what our future needs to be successful here in SACRAMENTO.

Donte Greene: A few years ago we considered Donte Greene to be a developing player to consider as a potential starter and maybe more.  At this point, its fairly safe to say Donte will probably not be a part of our future team. Hes had a turbulent year and unfortunately he hasnt stepped up in his giving oppurtunities. 

Omri Casspi: I consider Omri to continue his growth as a player. Hes a scrappy, never give up, kind of player. Those type of people are a rare commodity in its own. Consider Omri as a starter in our future plans.

Demarcus Cousins: Franchise Player, next.

Tyreke: See Demarcus Cousins.

Beno Udrih: Definitely a 6th man. No way he should be starting as I believe PG is our teams weakness at this point. I truly like Beno as a player. Hes fun to watch, just his defense is lacking and it really hurts our ability to win games.

Jason Thompson: This ones tricky, at one point alot of us Kings fans were so high on Thompson that we would double take on the possibility of trading Thompson for Chris Bosh among others. Now its a pretty safe assumption that Thompson is a fringe starter and a good rotational big man.  Nothing great but good enough to crack his way into a rotation for solid mins. A role player if you will.

Sammy D: Defensive presence on the inside. Another great rotational big man, hopefully we sign him for at least 3 years to bring defensive energy when needed. Off the bench or as a starter. Who knows but for sure we could use him while we attempt to develop Hassan Whiteside. 

Francisco Garcia: He has been under rated I feel. Hes injured ALOT, we all know that. However, team leaders are rare for this young team. Garcia seems to have filled that void with his experience and knowledge. When D.Cousins and Greene battled, it was Garcia who talked to Cousins. I say we let him ride out his contract and re-asses the situation then.  No need to salary dump is what im saying. He brings to our team what alot of players couldn't.

Hassan Whiteside: Hes a work in progress, however when he fell to us in the second round I was giddy. There had been reports he maybe selected with our top choice. Lets hope we can develop Whiteside into a good player. BTW Whiteside loves Little Caesars, ive seen him at the Natomas Lil Caesars on multiple occasions. He is one big KID. Emphasis on KID. 

Marcus Thornton: The Jury is out on him. Cant say I know much of him as I dont really follow the Hornets. I do know he was a solid rookie last year and he can score. His defense may become a liability. Repeating history, we have scorers but not enough defensive players. 

The Rest: Since we are talking about the future I decided to leave the rest out. I like Pooh, Jermaine Taylor, and the rest. I just dont see them as long term solutions to this roster.

Considering where we were a few years back, I see much optimism in our current roster. We should have a top 5 pick coming our way, with a decent draft. We dont need superstars at this point (always welcomed, however) if we can pick up a starter in this draft at the PG position, id be happy going into next year. Beno should be our spark 6th man. JT should continue to start, unless improvement is found via free agency. I do believe PG has to be our draft pick. Tyreke should play the 2 and he can do it effectively when healthy. Cousins will continue to grow up as both a man and a player, and Omri will continue to scrap for loose balls. 

So the question, perfect off season in your opinions? Lets keep it realistic, no trade machine. Asinine trade thread for that. What should we draft, consider as a free agent both as starters or role players. With our draft picks who would fit into our current build.

14 wins doesn't describe the talent this team has. We blow games late, and with years of experience we should learn how to finish these games. The light at the end of the tunnel of this rebuilding process is coming. Lets keep this thread optimistic and use it as an outlet to discuss the teams future. I knew we are in the cloud of relocation, but as you can see there are about 20 threads devoted to that. Keep it positive, Go Kings!!

I read on Yahoo! Sports that Tyrus is no longer in the Bulls plans and they will move him most likely before the trade deadline. 

As of right now, NYK are the front runners in a trade that would send Thomas to the Knicks along with Jerome James expiring contract for Al Harrington. 

Hypothetically, is there an offer that you guys as Kings fans would like to push towards Thomas? 

He would be a nice fit in a three man rotation consisting of Hawes, JT and TT. 

Nobody can deny the potential Thomas would bring and we know hes extremly athletic. I believe with the right coaching he could become a good player in this league. It would certainly be fun to watch a high flying team of Reke and TT along with our already solid core. 

Just something to talk about that could improve our team. What do you guys think?

Here is the article for those who want to see it. 

Do you guys see anyway that we bring him back in? I'm still on the side that says give Russell a few more games. Garcia would be a good insurance policy especially since he knows our playbook. If Russell comes out flat again next week just pull him and try to salvage the season. With a half way decent QB we could win a few games this season.

If you guys want more information just click here.

While building through the draft is always fun, lets figure other ways we could rebuild this 17 win team.

Good teams have been built through the draft, and it certainly looks like its working well for the Trail Blazers, however its not the only way to win games. We could do like the pistons did and build through the free agency period, or maybe a trade to acquire a talented player.

We have a few key assets, mainly k9's(woof!) expiring contract. Teams are scrambling to clear cap space for the star studded 2010 free agency period and while thats all good and nice for the New York's of the NBA, doesnt work so well for the Sacramento small market teams. K9 (woof!) could bring home a few good players simply because hes 9 million off the books next season.

For example, before this great run the Nuggets went through this post season, there was talk that Mello could be had for the right price. While not many like mello, i for one love his game. He is the type of player that would be a great benefit to have for K-Mart. Double teams everytime down the court would free up Martin's shot and hopfully bring his shot percentage back up to 47% plus. Im sure some team will want to rebuild and is willing to shed a star player for expiring contracts and draft picks. Maybe Stoudamire?

Since we are a cash strapped team right now, one of the many teams that needed financial assistance from the NBA this past season, a free agent does not seem likely for us. But for the sake of arguement, we are going to be roughly 8 or so million under cap this season. With that much money we probably couldnt sign a Boozer type player but could bring in a David Lee? I dont think its worth it however so just save the cap space for bigger and better things.

Now finally the draft. There is alot of speculation going around that we might be able to land the lil Spainard that we have been watching for so long. If we grab Rubio at 4, somone like Casspi at 23, and im hearing alot of Beaubois so perhaps him at 31 or somone like Darren Collison if he falls.

If you guys don't know who Casspi or Beaubois are, Aykis16 made a great post. I suggest you go read it and inform yourselves!!

As for our current team, lets hope that Donte Greene blossoms into a stud, K-Mart stays healthy, Beno gets his head out of the millions of dollars he took Pietrie for and plays well, JT/Hawes continue to progress as solid bigs, and Noc stops bitching!!!

Lemme know what you guys think.

With the draft less than a month away seems like everyone here at Sactown Royalty has an opinion on who to take. Some decide to take this exciting one month strech to bash our GM while others give meaningful input on potential moves we can make to grab Rubio and such.

Dont get me wrong, best case scenario is we walk out with Rubio with this 4th pick. Realistically however, he will not be sitting there for us at pick 4.

That leaves the likes of Brandon Jennings, Jrue Holliday, etc. The popular pick would be some sort of point guard, and while that is absolutley the smart thing to do seeing as we dont have a legitimate point guard, i have another theory.

DeMar DeRozan is possibly the biggest boom/bust prospect in this draft with an amazing amount of potential that could possibly make him the best player in this draft. We all know superstars run this league and DeRozan could be that next great 2 guard.

I know we have Kmart and we all love him but I personally believe best case for Martin is where he is at now. His body frame doesnt seem to be improving which is leading to one ankle injury after another. DeRozan is built like a tank and has all the physical tools to be the next flashy, superstar like player. Even with DeRozan and Martin on the same team we could probably use them both in the line up at the same time.

Need wise PG is the obvious pick but with so many pgs in this draft im sure we could pick up a serviceable pg with the 23rd pick.

What do you guys think? I wouldnt oppose Brandon Jennings here either. I just think with the 4th pick we need to take a chance that could turn into a great thing. Jennings and DeRozan are high risk high reward guys.

For those unfamiliar with Derozan you can read more about him here.

I know this is a Raiders blog site but i couldnt help but shit my pants when i read this...

by the time you all wake up you will probably have heard but Albert Haynesworth signed with the Redskins for 7 years 100 million dollars...

Wow im simply amazed at how much money Daniel Snyder throws at players every year but the redskins always fail to make any significant damage in that nfc east...

First, former raider cast off (mr. i cant cover a rookie wr) deangelo hall and now big Haynesworth...thats 160 million commited to 2 players!! i wonder how titan fans feel right now its the equivilant to losing asomugha...that hurts!!

both just got fired from the bucs. do you see ANY way al davis brings him back and do you see anyway that gruden or allen COME back? it worked well before so i got excited even though i kno its unlikely they would return to oakland.

speakin of GM's, i havnt heard anyword of them searching for a GM at all? i thought al wanted to give it a shot with a GM? have you guys heard anything about that at all?

Is it just me or does it seem like Geoff Pietrie takes to long to pull the trigger on deals? seems like 3 weeks ago that Pietrie had a bunch of offers for Brad Miller and now im reading around that B.Miller is generating little interest.

Was the Shawn marion deal ever really on the table or was that just rumors?

What ever happend to the JJ Hickson and Wally for Bmiller deal?

Its obvious this years a lost cause so lets get on with the rebuilding. Im getting sick of Brad Miller running around out there acting like he doesnt care. Lets get some more young guys in here and see what we can get out of them. JJ Hickson is a good young talent and wally comes off the books after this year. No point in paying Bmiller 11 mill a year to say "it stinks" that the teams losing. Well no shit it stinks so do somthing more productive like motivate the team to play harder. I just think Brad Millers time in Sacramento should end NOW!!!

Kmart is back and playing well lets bring more players around him that want to be here. Donte Greene, Jason Thompson, Spencer Hawes etc. Add Hickson to that mix and get rid of Brad Miller NOW. Stop waiting because if that Hickson/Wally deal gets pulled we may be stuck with this guys all year and thats just not productive anymore.

Am I the only one that thinks this? Keep in mind what we coulda got for Artest had we done the deal a year earlier than we did. I just think Bmiller needs to go now and really get this REBUILDING stage ongoing. We can be patient and take our lumps this year and do somthing in the offseason next year to improve our team along with the young talent we have.

What do you guys think?

Theres rumors swirling that Bill Parcels will yet again JET on his team. Word has it that since Wayne Huzeinga is selling his team that Parcels has an opt out clause becasue the sale is goign through. Now you all are probably wonder wtf this has to do wit the raiders? well the RAIDERS are on Parcels radar!!!

This excites me because the guy flat out knows football. If Davis takes a backseat and allows Parcels to come in and bring in some key guys for the trenches this raider team is a competitive team in the AFC west.

We have seen Jruss grow before our very eyes these past few weeks and Micheal bush tore up the bucs today. I think this team is a few key players away from being good. Parcels will bring that with him along with the sense of confidence he always brings.

Im excited about this if it happens we will be the next parcels turn around.

What do you guys say?

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3795922

http://www.insidebayarea.com/raiders/ci_11326316?source=rss