From the FanPosts with minor edits. Awesome work. -- TZ

With the Sacramento Kings visiting the East Coast on their upcoming road trip this week and having the knowledge that most of those readers of StR are not from that area of the country I felt a glossary of terms would be helpful in adding to the flavor of the visit to the self proclaimed home of NBA basketball, NYC. Add these couple of dozen terms to your lexicon:

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It’s 2012 and here we are again. You remember again don’t you? Again is the place where Sacramento Kings fans visit every January for the last six seasons. The playoffs are hopelessly out of sight and the fans start pinning their hopes on a brighter future by looking for a way out of the mess they are in. Some years it’s time to start looking for coaching replacements but mostly it’s about trading players and looking at the lottery. It is a bleak existence, so why am I bringing it up again? Why even go there?

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Hey, I have been called worse.

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It's another year of Kings basketball. With one pre-season game under their belt, Coach Westphal and the team face a tough challenge - new players, young players, little practice time and a tough first half of an already tight season schedule. Emotions will flair as I don't think this team will go 66-0 and many will be disappointed. I found this script from an old B&W movie that I saw on EweTube. I hope sharing it with you all helps.

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Let’s just say that the NBPA ratifies the current proposal in some form or another and the NBA schedulers are able to start a 72 game schedule on 15 December (btw: back to back to back = injury city. The owners should use the extra savings to hire a second trainer).  Hey, all’s well and good. Play ball!

But let’s just say that is not the case and the meetings break down and there is no season. What then?

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With all of the storm that is gathering for Thursday's 2011 NBA Draft (4:30 PM PST on ESPN) we all ask who will the Kings pick at #7? Will the Kings pick at #7? There is Jimmer, Knight, Walker, Vesely, Leonard and Burks. But what of the trades for Tony Parker, Raymond Felton, Andre Igoudala or Danny Granger? Free agents such as Samuel Dalembert, Marc Gasol and Shane Battier?

Before a choice can be made, I ask you - what is the direction of this Sacramento Kings team? I have asked this question time and again and it is true, I often repeat myself repeat myself. Building a team is not a process of grabbing the best players in the League. It is collecting the best talent to mesh together to compliment each other and become a team. It takes ability and skill, brains and braun, maturity, durability, experience and understanding. You need stars and role players. A Head Coach who can direct and motivate the players to play their best for a commn goal.

On to the question: What type of team are the Sacramento Kings trying to become?

If you ask the owners, Joe and Gavin felt that the Adelman teams were too soft. Not tough or gritty - they wanted San Antonio type defense. Adelman was shown the door and Eric Musselman stepped in. He was followed by Reggie Theus and Kenny Natt. Paul Westphal joined at the helm and was given a rag tag collection of odd contracts and inexperienced, inexpensive talent. What has emerged after two seasons is a core of Tyreke Evans, DeMarcus Cousins and Marcus Thornton with Jason Thompson, Beno Udrih, Francisco Garcia, Omri Casspi and Donte Greene as rotation players. Many expect this squad to be playoff contenders and I don't see it, no matter who is calling the coaching shots but that is a topic for another time another time.

With talent on the roster today - 21 June 2011 - the Kings are a young inexperienced team with a budding star in Tyreke Evans who is a ball dominant player still learning the NBA ropes, DeMarcus Cousins - all big body, soft hands and quick feet who can shoot inside and out, defend and rebound, pass the ball with the best of the big men and who can pout like a sour patch kid (and smile with unique charm when he chooses). Marcus Thornton arrived with his in your face scoring and confidence and the guile to back it up.

Great! Is this a running team, a pick and roll grind it out squad, a free flowing offensive juggernaut who can hit the open man through screens and backdoor cuts? Are they lock down man to man defenders, zone trappers and double team helpers? To determine where to go with this year's 7th pick the Kings have to figure out who they are and where they want to go. Justa dding talent will win them a few more gamesbut may just bring them to the brink of mediocrity (this year's Bucks and most every seasons Warriors and Clippers)

Purity of Position (PoP) – a strong part of the NBA draft process and an important one. We see your skills, your size and your understanding of the game (aka BB IQ) but do you belong on our team or in our League?

Here in Sacramento this is an oft mentioned issue; Is Tyreke Evans a point guard? Before you NaPG this question – let’s agree that purity is not an answer. Combo guard is a better answer than the Blueprint response of "I’m a basketball player". Marcus Thornton is a shooting guard, a small SG but a facilitator he is not, because of his size, let’s call him a combo guard. Beno Udrih – a facilitator to a decent degree but is a steady shooter and reliably scorer but can’t defend – again, many call him a combo guard. Also on the Kings – JT – a PF/C, DMC also a 4/5. Carl Landry had the size of a big 3 or small 4 but played the 4 on offense and the 3 on defense. Tweener.

Looking at this year’s NBA Draft those same question abound.

Where does this guy play?

How does he fit?

Does his college or Euro position résumé apply at the next level?

Are the skill strengths applicable in the Association?

Can he overcome the weaknesses to his game or his size in the NBA?

During the evaluation process an important feather in the cap of some of these prospects is getting that position label. The players know that, the agents know that and of course the GMs and Scouts understand that as well. By extension promotion can blur PoP accuracy

Let’s start a King’s eye view with two of the most mentioned prospects on the community boards – Kemba Walker from the NCAA champion Connecticut Huskies and that man from the Brigham Young Cougars, the one and only, NCAA scoring leader Jimmer Fredette

Both young men are skilled, tough, competitive leaders who can score the basketball. In college basketball they both were assigned to handle the offensive load for the team and passing was not encouraged. Both are "NBA small". What one has in shooting touch, the other has In athleticism. They both face the same question but from different vantage points – can they defend? Can they facilitate an offense? In other words – can they play Point Guard?

At this point in the conversation the debate is often thrown over to successful players – Ben Gordon, Eric Gordon, Flash Gordon, Commissioner Gordon – let’s leave past player hyperbole out of this talk, please. None of these guys are any of those guys.

On the other side of the ledger are the projected top 2: Kyrie Irving and Derrick Williams. Both fine talents and impressive with their skills. But Irving is the #1 pick because he is a pure point guard. Derrick Williams is solid "big" shooting forward (though forward is perhaps the most variable height and size position in the League – from 6’5" to 6’12") as he appears to be quick enough to guard small forwards. It is due to PoP that both of these guys are "solid" picks – they have positions on a team, any team.

What about the rest of the bunch in the top 10? Enes Kanter – big, long, a bit lumbering – a solid "5". Brandon Knight – combo guard – with a promotional lead towards PG as he is not a "scorer". Jan Vesely – 6’11" 240 lbs, PF. Kawhi Leonard – tweener. He can defend and rebound but is too small to post up against say, DMC or Sammy, and can’t defend either of them and his jumper has been questioned. Tristan Thompson – 6’8" 225 and averaged less than 8 rpg. Tweener. Jonas Valanciunas – 6’10" 230 who is known to be a rebounder – PF. Chris Singleton 6’9" 225 but athletic - PF.

The Kings "need" a point guard and another big for the post Sammy era (sooner or later) – There seems to be enough PoP for the bigs but on the point guard side – Walker, Jimmer, even Knight are combo guards. Will the Kings reach for backcourt prospect? Should they? Must they be point guards or is BPA the call?

This post is spurred by the recent writings of PookeyGuru and the What do you Expect? post by andy sims. Imagine this: Fireworks, Carson Daly doing his Dick Clark at Times Square, and the NBA is post CBA sans contraction. The Draft brought a top 5 talent (and this one has no character issues yet revealed).

What do you expect to see: Which players are wearing the Purple and Black? Who is the Head Coach?

Doomsday or Happy New Year? 

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Rick Adelman is the brightest star in the Sacramento Kings galaxy of coaches. He in fact is the only star as he is the lone "winner". As his twinkle faded with the downturn of talent due to age, injury, replacement and cap costs his personality clash between the Maloof ownership  escalated and both sides agreed to move on separately.

The consensus was that the image of the Kings was that of a soft team that did not defend and that they should follow the path of the San Antonio Spurs and Utah Jazz. Disciplinarian Eric Musselman was hired.

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Browsing through the nets this morning, a Friday bullet on TrueHoop mentions this blurb on Truth About It.com

And this Flip Saunders quote: "Well, defensively, the team always takes the personality of their players."

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Drunk with fandom and devoid of reason I purchased my one seat for this one day on the first day they went on sale, some two months ago. Ms. bte okay-ed it with the plan that she would survey various of the purveyors of the Las Vegas consumer oriented establishments while I was holed up in my hoops haven. ** WARNING** This thread is chock full of name dropping.

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For the last two seasons many of the teams in the NBA have geared their future with one solitary goal in mind; Free Agent Fest 2010. We have heard about the FA Fest as being either the focal point or the undercurrent of every transaction, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant for two years running. Wisely, the Kings have cleared cap space and cut costs but have remained on the sidelines, knowingly out of the running.

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The Sacramento Kings were resurrected last season by hope in the form of reigning Rookie of the Year Tyreke Evans. With his historic rookie campaign and his remarkable 20-5-5 production Sacramento found a franchise cornerstone in this young man. Moving towards the future, the Kings and Coach Paul Westphal have made it clear that future development will be spearheaded with Tyreke at the forefront. Collecting pieces to build a winning team will involve how to best utilize and advance this exciting talent.

Enter DeMarcus Cousins. Big, long, skilled with impressively quick footwork and soft vacuum-like hands, the enigmatic DMC is projected to be a 20/10 guy. This last 2009-10 season only 3 players were able to accomplish that feat (Z-Bo, DLee, CBosh). I doubt this will happen next season, but it is not an unrealistic projection. Is the world of the Sacramento Kings realigning or is this heresy?

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A bit of a repeat from my addition to Aykis16's draft board with some added comments to get this thing to one beyond the lottery

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82 games,  six months gone and it is time to discuss how the team makes the grade as seen from my eyes.  A full report card is too long so I will break this down into 4 parts. The Core, The Near Core, The Here Todays, The Coaching Staff and Front Office. Today, The Coaching Staff and Front Office

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82 games,  six months gone and it is time to discuss how the team makes the grade as seen from my eyes.  A full report card is too long so I will break this down into 4 parts. The Core, The Near Core, The Here Todays, The Coaching and Front Office. Today, the Here Todays.

What is a “Here Today”? A suitcase player who could be seen to shuffle off to another team. They either have too much unrealized potential or are very good but not excellent at one skill but not well rounded enough to  garner reliable minutes.  Other Here Todays are players that don’t fit a system, have personality issues, or are more valuable for their contract than their basketball talent.  MidTerm grades in parantheses

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82 games,  six months gone and it is time to discuss how the team makes the grade as seen from my eyes.  A full report card is too long so I will break this down into 4 parts. The Core, The Near Core, The Here Todays, The Coaching and Front Office. Today, the  Near Core.  What is a Near Core player? Someone who is not a significant part of a winning fabric. They may have emerging talent but are not consistent enough to be a reliable core player, yet. They may be a player that could easily been seen staying as leaving or as a trading chip packaged for an upgrade. On a team with few wins and a paucity of talent Near Cores may dominate the roster

Whereas the MidTerm Report Card had 4 members of the Near Core squad, the Final Report Card has 6 players. I have dropped Jason Thompson and Omri Casspi into the Near Core category.

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82 games, six months gone and it is time to discuss how the team makes the grade as seen from my eyes.  A full report card is too long so I will break this down into 4 parts. The Core, The Near Core, The Here Todays, The Coaching and Front Office. Today, the Core. MidTerm grades in parantheses. What is a Core player?  A player that will be the starter whenever they are healthy. They are the leaders on the team and part of the personality. They get well earned consistent minutes and are counted on for reliable production. They have a blend of skills that other teams must adjust to.  Sometimes Core players are the entire 5 and may include a Bench Core of the 6th, 7th, or even 8th players on veteran teams. The team is built around the Core.

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Last season seems long ago. The Kings held the distinction of the owning the worst record in the NBA. No coaching staff (Natt’s departure was a foregone conclusion), Ownership panic selling, slashing expenses, the Arena future was devoid of light and the team roster consisted of an oft injured near All-Star,a young  10th and 12th pick future frontcourt and some hard to sell underperforming MLE contracts (Beno, Cisco, Chapu) and Kenny Thomas’ expiring contract to form 7 keepers.

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This is an exciting time for us Kings fans  as the we now look toward the remainder of the 2010 season. The All-Star weekend couldn’t have been better with a showcasing of the crown jewels – Tyreke Evans and Omri Casspi. Evans seems to impress without fail with his first award, the Rook/Soph MVP. It is an awkward feeling to see an elite talent take shape in a Kings uniform. Embrace it.

The schedule continues: Having  already topped last year’s win total with 18 wins there are 30 games to go. At the current win percentage that is another 10 wins or 28 total wins for the year. A greater than 10 game improvement. There is the draft lottery in late May and then the NBA draft in June.  But it is the trade deadline that captures our thoughts this week.  With that in mind – in which direction shall the Kings go?

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Has the sparkle of early success been fool’s gold? An easy schedule, the experienced teams warming up before flexing their muscles (Spurs), the spotlight of the stage on these not ready for prime time players.  We are all “victims” of success here.

Would you want it any other way?

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Finally, the directors and the direction of the Kings finish up this report card.

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4 Core and 6 Nears ago were parts I and II.  Here Todays are what make up the remainder of this current roster: Look fast at these 6 – they may not be here after February 18th and none are expected to be wearing the Purple for the start of the 2010-11 season

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Halfway through the 2009-10 season and a time to discuss how the team makes the grade as seen from my eyes.  A full report card is too long so I will break this down into 4 parts. The Core, The Near Core, The Here Todays, The Coaching and Front Office. This post, the Near Core.

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