Notes from Kings Practice Dec. 2

Practice opened up earlytoday since the Sacramento Kings were flying out to L.A. to play the Lakers., who are riding a four-game losing streak.

Samuel Dalembert participated in non-contact drills and was upgraded from doubtful to questionable and will start if he's available for tomorrow's game.

Former assistant coach and current Assistant General Manager Shareef Abdur-Rahim was on hand for practice today as well.

Head Coach Paul Westphal and starting power forward Jason Thompson were available to the media and I was able to grab Francisco García before it was over.

Paul Westphal

"We kept working on our offensive execution. We tried to fine tune our zone defense a little bit and did some shooting, which is arguably our major problem. Make a few more baskets and a lot of our woes would disappear."

On not getting the shots they want or just missing shots.

"In the NBA, you've got to make some tough shots. For the most part, I would say we're missing shots and we're missing free throws. If we could up our percentage slightly, we would have a better chance to win quite a few games."

Needing Dalembert on Pau Gasol:

"It's certainly is important to have Sam on Gasol as much as possible as well as DeMarcus, who will be available to guard him, but if DeMarcus gets in foul trouble and we have to play a forward on Gasol that can be a pretty tough match-up."

If the Lakers' Lamar Odom is their most difficult cover for the Kings:

"No he's is a very difficult cover, but he's not more difficult than Kobe (Bryant) and Gasol, but not to minimize his gifts, but no."

Who gets to guard Kobe:

"There'll be quite a few people on him from time to time. Certainly, Luther (Head) and Donté (Greene) for the most part. Sometimes, it'll be Tyreke (Evans) and it might be Omri (Casspi) or Cisco."

On Luther Head guarding Bryant last time:

"He was battling. That's all you can do with Kobe. Nobody's going to shut him down. You try to make him work for his points and when it's all said and done, you hope he misses."

On the Lakers' struggles:

"Gasol's having a little problem with his hamstring. I think that slowed him down quite a bit. Other than that, it's a tough league. We find out every night. We've run up against some really good teams. The Lakers, even though they can be seemingly invincible sometimes, if there are little problems here and there they can be susceptible to getting nipped as well as anybody else."

Jason Thompson
JT on looking forward to play the Lakers:

"It's always a test. The rivalry might not be as good as it was back in the day, but we always have good battles with them. Usually all the games are close. The last time we were in L.A. (the game before, actually) Kobe hit a buzzer shot."

Playing against the Lakers:

"You never try to play to the competition. They got a lot of guys with well known names, but they've done something in this league. Obviously they have rings. (Players have) done other things before being a Laker. You always have to bring your A-game. Every time, especially when it's in L.A., it's the big city, bright lights. What way (can we find) to play big against the defending champions?"

On moving on after getting hot in the locker room after a loss to the Indiana Pacers:

"Yeah. Maybe it's kind of like the Derek Anderson effect. Me not smiling after something like that. Being frustrated. I'm a competitor. I want to win as many games as I can. But at the end of the day I know the good thing about this league is that you have another game. We got to come in here, especially in the second half, I didn't think I could do much for the team to help out. I was kind of frustrated about that too."

On settling into the starting spot:

"I feel good. I feel comfortable, but you never know how this business goes. I just take what I can give and see what happens from there."

On playing with Dalembert:

"I think it's good. I think we show a lot of energy. We move the ball around well. He kind of knows where I like to go. If the paint is clogged, I'm spotting up and if I see if my man can duck in he gives me the ball too. I think we play pretty well."

Playing against Odom:

"If he's starting at (power forward) I think I will be playing him. He's been shooting the ball well. I got to limit him from getting offensive rebounds and easy buckets in the paint and try to make him shoot."

If Odom is tough to cover:

"Of course. He's a guy who has the green light when it comes to getting rebounds and pushing (the ball). Obviously, he's left hand dominant but he can use his right as well too.and I think he shoots a high percentage from the floor."

On the Lakers losing four games in a row:

"We want to, obviously, make it five, but it's going to be tough being in L.A. I'm sure they're going to be fired up."

If it's good or bad for the Kings to play against the Lakers on their losing streak:

"I think it might be a bad thing, but they're going to be fired up regardless. I think it's more energy for them and more focus probably in the practices before this game. Either way, we've got to be ready.

On guarding Odom around the perimeter:

"If they drive, I can't help as much, especially if he's going to be up at the top. So I've got to be arm's length and make sure I get somewhat of a hand in his face.

On staying out of foul trooble since Dalembert is hurt:

"I think it's important, but if you think about something too much, likely, it happens. I won't think about it too much. I'll just think about stopping my man, playing more team defense and hopefully limiting it to one shot and rebounding it."

Francisco García
On playing the Lakers:

"We're on the road, so we've got to stay together. We don't have the fans. We only have us so we have to stay together.

On the Lakers and their troubles:

"They're the champions. They know how to overcome. We've just got to be ready to play."

Last but not least, Pooh Jeter's birthday is today. He turned 27 today.