There I was, in hostile territory, proudly wearing my Turner jersey, surviving the heckling (never as bad as Oakland though,) waiting for my moment. 7-0. Standing up, motioning touchdown like I was the Ref. A few less than polite "sit down"s were directed my way.

Roddy White. 31 yd TD. I could sense it being a big day for that man.

via photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net

So unassuming.

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KWOD 106.5

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Preface: I am a Kings fan.

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You know that one play? That play that sucks all the excitement out of the building? Or that one play that just puts the crowd into a frenzy? That play that absolutely stabs the other team in the heart?

This is kind of what I am referring to as a soul crusher. BUT, today, its less of a spectacular play and more of WHO actually does the spectacular play.

The kind of play by a certain player that makes you as a fan feel as there is no more hope in the world.

My first example: Your team, down 15 to the Cavs starts a little run to bring it within 5. Then after the ball is inbound, Lebron takes it and goes coast-to-coast for the and-1 tomahawk. now your team is down 8 again, and you are about to cry.

Another example. Your team is down 6 to the Hornets. Your guys are executing the offense flawlessly for easy layup after easy layup. Then the ball comes down the floor to Peja, who just pulls up for three regardless of the defense. Swish. Fine, your team comes down and runs another beautiful play. This time, the Hornets find West posting up. The double comes, he kicks out to Peja. Three. Your team is down 8 now. After another beautiful play opn offense leading to another two, CP3 is dribbling around like a maniac. Your guys are playing pretty good defense. Shot clock, 4, 3, 2, kick out to Peja and from 28 feet. Bottoms. A little piece of your heart dies with that last three. Your team is playing beautifully butnow they are down 9.

See what I mean? It could be anybody, but when its that one guy it makes it even more painful. Like you knew it was going to happen. Inevitable. But when it does, you would rather watch somebody run over fresh roadkill.

A few more examples.
Dwight Howard block, leading to a fast break, with Dwight as trailer. Then he raises up and dunks on everyone who ever lived in that city.

Paul Pierce. defended well. Iso dribble. pulls up. money. next possesion. same thing. next posession, he takes your dude to the rim. money. time out, game over.

Kevin Martin. Iso on the wing. Waits for his defender to blink, then all of the sudden he takes a foul, rises up from nowhere, and with one hand, puts it in the basket. From 19 feet. Like its nothing. Like you are nothing.

Jason kidd. Strips your point guard. throws an impossible pass to anybody, nobody, dunk. Then, he steals the inbound pass. Again, no look pass. Coach just stares. You turn off your TV.

Kobe.

Gilbert Arenas. Dribbles down. Pulls up from 26. Net. Jaws al the way back down the court. Steals a pass. Instead of going in for the easy layup, he pulls up from 30. zeroed in. you just got shot in the heart.

ANy other ideas?

Now, even though this is after a pretty big win (both for my psyche and the teams,) just remember my emotions are entirely in check. I thought this would be a proper time to discuss the rotation for the rest of the year.

My theory:

Jason needs to start. Sorry Mikki, but these two point, one rebound games are less than inspiring. Sure Mikki, maybe you get Shelden minutes. Keep him at 15-20 a game because at times, you just need a veteran in there. It is also nice to have his hustle and energy. But Jason has double what Mikki has. And frankly, I don't cringe when he goes in the post.

Greene needs minutes as well. I don't know where they come from, but maybe use him as THE primary John Salmons backup, and Cisco as the primary Kevin backup as well as him spelling Beno here and there.

So, here we go.

C- Miller, 25-30 on any given night. Hawes, 25-30 on any given night. Mikki maybe gets a few minutes here when we go small. NO SHELDEN.
PF- Thompson, 25-30 oagn, Hawes 5-10 alongside Miller, again, Mikki 5-10. NO KT and NO SHELDEN. Maybe Donte against the Warriors. but HEY
SF- Salmons, 30-40 minutes oagn, Donte gets 10-20 depending on how he plays, Cisco, 5-10 alongside Kevin
SG- Kevin, 35 at least depending on his defense, so 35-40, which leaves Cisco at about 10-15 here.
PG- Beno, 30-40 oagn, again either Brown or Jackson 10-15, and Cisco alongside Kevin and Salmons or Kevin and Donte for about 5-10.

I know the minutes don't mathematically work out correctly, which is why I arranged this so loosely.

Thoughts? BTW this plan gives Cisco about 25 minutes a game minimum, so I think that is just about right.

Clever name? Check. A few players, tons of fans? Check. Fun? Oh it seems we left that behind.

I went expecting to hear some people (namely Theus and the Maloofs) speak. Reggie did for like two seconds. I went to see some player interaction with the fans. I talked to Kevin, Cisco, Spencer, and Bobby brown. The actual events were alright, I would have liked to have seen the team do something like a dunk contest or something along those lines. They did do a three point contest, and they chose some fans who looked like they never touched a basketball before in their life.

Anyway, it was free, but it didn't rise to my not so ridiculous expectations.