Yardbarker: Quincy Douby

Kings-Blazers in OT Grab Vegas Spotlight Day 5

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 18:43:52 -0500

With 5 games in play, Jason Thompson highlighted the whole day when the Kings won with his game-winning 3 point play in OT to edge the Blazers by one point. Along with two 30 point games by Marco Belinelli and D.J. Augustin, the summer league's top stars continue to shine.

Kings Have Great Speed in their Youth

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 17:20:52 -0500

Took in some Vegas NBA Summer league action yesterday between the Portland Trailblazers and the Sacramento Kings. I was hoping to see if Greg Oden would be playing, but I guess he's still rehabing his knee. I was really impressed by the speed of the Kings' young guards.

Specifically, Sean Singletary and Quincy Douby; those guys are quick. I love playing fast, when I was playing ball, I wasn't tall so I made it up with my quickness. I love watching guys like Steve Nash, Tony Parker, Leandro Barbosa; they can create havoc just by being quick. Take a look,

Quickness on Offense:

When you're quick on offense, it allows you to do what the Kings did in that last play. Go the length of the floor off a made basket and score in 5 seconds. In fact, we used to practice that as a drill sometimes, to see who could score the fastest on like a 3v2 full-court.

In this first sequence, Quincy Douby takes advantage of a slower Jerryd Bayless playing too tight. Bayless is quick in his own right, but not quick enough to be checking Douby that tight. Douby does 1 jab fake, then he looks like he's doing another jab fake in the same direction, but it's really his first explosive step,

Quickness of Defense:

This is just a mismatch here. If you have a small forward being checked by a small quicker guard, you can't think you can out-dribble him. This is just a mistake by the Finnish player Koponen who thinks he can out-dribble a much quicker Sean Singletary who defensive slides and beats his man to every spot. Finally, when Koponen tries to get rid of the ball, he makes a careless pass which is intercepted by Douby for the dunk,

Summary:

When you have speed in your backcourt, there are so many great things you can do. Drive and dish, 1 man press, etc... Ideally, as team I think you want size and strength in your center and power forward, versatility in your small forward, and speed in your 2 guards. As the old adage goes, speed kills.

For more video info on developing speed in your players, take a look at Mike Krzyzewski's DVD on Agility & Conditioning Drills. You can watch Coach K this summer as he brings Team USA to Beijing looking for Olympic gold. Discuss this and the rest of your favorite basketball topics at the X's and O's Basketball Forum.

Kings Have Great Speed in their Youth

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 17:20:52 -0500

Summer League Recap: Day 2 & Rankings

Sun, 13 Jul 2008 14:21:14 -0500

Spencer Hawes, O.J. Mayo, D.J. Augustin and Dhantay Jones all starred leading their teams to wins. Augustin, Joe Alexander and the little known lottery pick Jason Thompson made their summer league debut. After 2 days of action, here's the early player and rookie rankings of summer league.

Kings Edge Hornets 94-91, Shift the West

Sun, 13 Apr 2008 23:11:29 -0500

Better late than never. The Kings took the season series 2-1 and Artest was the big hero from deep in the end, hitting 4 clutch 3 pointers to help the Kings knock the Hornets out of first place for the second time. The Kings are doing their part in the playoffs, even though they aren't in it.

Kings Beat Blazers 103-86, Headband Style

Sat, 12 Apr 2008 10:32:28 -0500

The Kings, led by John Salmons took the season series 3-1 and handed the Blazers one of their more dismal road losses of the year, and Josh McRoberts made an appearance. Plus, in honor of Brad Miller undergoing surgery, the team wore headbands. Check out the pics in the comments.

Nuggets Stunned in Loss to Kings 118-115

Sun, 06 Apr 2008 11:17:52 -0500

Even though Melo dropped 47 points, 21 in the 4th quarter, that couldn't stop the Kings, playing without 3 starters and their top scorer playing sick, from feeling a mile high after holding off Denver for their 36th win. The Nuggets could lose the 8 spot if the Warriors win today.

Artest, Martin Fuel Kings Past Rockets 99-98

Wed, 02 Apr 2008 14:00:27 -0500

The Kings played spoiler for a night, denying the Rockets their 50th win and a tie for 3rd place in the West with the Lakers. Instead they stay in 6th place, diminishing their chances for the Southwest division title and homecourt advantage. Great game to watch all the way down to the end.

Kings Demolish Warriors 122-105

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 12:34:55 -0500

Emotions ran high when Warriors fans came down again, including Artest vs. Davis. The Warriors couldn't deliver what their fans said they could do, and Kevin Martin and the Kings ran them out at the end. Prayers go out to Monta and Antwain Ellis and the entire Ellis family.

Kings Douse Blazers 96-85, Calling Out Odom

Fri, 14 Mar 2008 12:27:39 -0500

The Kings were hot, the Blazers were not. The Kings are playing with their newfound philosophy called "L.A. Energy." Treat every team like they're the Lakers. Plus, I'm calling out Lamar Odom's big mouth for calling the Kings a high school team when he can't back himself up.

Nets Get Beatdown by the Kings 128-94

Thu, 24 Jan 2008 00:04:19 -0500

Ball movement, execution and 3 pointers, lots of them. 15 to be exact. That's how the Kings massacred the Nets by 34 points and sent them to their 6th straight loss. For those who watched the game with NBA League Pass (if you were even interested), this is the team that the Kings want to be. Not blowing out every team that comes their way, but a team that can execute throughout the whole game. It's especially important with all of their intended starters, starting together for the first time. The Kings were great throughout the whole game sweeping the series with the Nets, with 7 Kings scoring in double figures and the same number had a block. They shot 57.5% from the field and 62.5% from behind the arc. Mike Bibby, Kevin Martin and Francisco Garcia hit 3 each. None of the Kings had more than 2 fouls except for Mikki Moore (3). They kept the ball moving to keep the Nets guessing who gets the ball, which would result in a wide open shot. The Kings outrebounded the Nets 41-29, which is very impressive for this team. The Kings also defended the struggling Nets very well. In doing so, they turned Jason Kidd into a scorer. In doing that, he only got 2 rebounds and 5 assists. Beno Udrih and Bibby teamed up to create a PG tandem on the court. Both could pass to each other and shoot, or pass to someone else when needed. Moore did a better job against his team this time showing he could still produce with another team. Great teamwork and less one-on-one play throughout the whole game led to their biggest margin of victory against an opponent this season. Ron Artest was the best King of all, getting 27 points, 6 rebounds 4 assists and a season high-tying 5 steals that happened all in the first half. Brad Miller had 14 points and game highs of 7 rebounds and 8 assists. Kevin Martin had a great night with 19 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals. Mike Bibby had 15 points, 3 rebounds and 7 assists. Francisco Garcia had 13 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists. Beno Udrih had 14 points 2 rebounds and 3 assists. Mikki Moore had 10 points and 3 rebounds. Rookie Spencer Hawes had 6 points and 5 rebounds. Quincy Douby had 6 points and a rebound in 7 minutes, 6 of them in the 4th quarter. Dahntay Jones had 4 points, 2 rebounds and assists each and a steal in 10 minutes. Justin Williams didn't score, but came out with a rebound. Their record goes up to 18-22, riding thier first 3 game winning streak of the season. Vince Carter finished with 21 points, 3 rebounds and 8 assists on the night. Richard Jefferson had 18 points and 4 rebounds. Jason Kidd had 13 points, but was limited to 2 rebounds and 5 assists. Rookie Sean Williams, who recorded a career high 8 blocks against the Kings, shared with Jamal Magloire a game high of 2 blocks to go with 8 points and 4 rebounds. Malik Allen went on a late scoring binge with 14 points and 2 rebounds and assists each. Antoine Wright had 9 points, 3 rebounds and assists, a steal and a block. Rookie Marcus Williams was good with 5 points and assists each. Bostjon Nachbar had 4 points, 5 rebounds and 3 steals. Josh Boone had 2 points and assists each and 2 rebounds. Their record is now 18-23, riding a 6 game losing streak. The Kings were just dominant throughout the whole game never trailing. But the only problem was that John salmons sprained his ankle, but is expected to be fine. They go on the road to finish their back-to-back to play the Clippers and get their first division win of the season. They're 0-5 agaisnt division rivals on the season, playing the Suns 3 times (that explains a lot), the Warriors and the Clippers. The Kings are 6-2 since the win against Orlando and 7-4 on the month, and have a great chance of finishing the month over 0.500, and with the opponents coming up in the schedule, they could go on a legitimate run. They play at L.A. against the Clippers, at Utah who they beat by 10 at Arco, at Seattle and at home against Charlotte. At best they can finish this run 9-3, and for the month 10-5.

Salmons' GW, Martin's 39, Help Kings Stun Mavs 122-120

Tue, 15 Jan 2008 18:16:27 -0500

Another top team goes down. Dallas' 7-game winning streak was snapped as Kevin Martin, who was sidelined 17 games because of a groin injury, scored 39 bench points in 28 minutes. That ties the season high for points scored by a reserve (Ben Gordon). The Mavs fought back eventuallly taking the lead back, and the Kings held on for another thriller. The last time these teams met, Dallas was at full strentgh and the Kings had no Bibby, Artest, or even a point guard. That would lead to a 102-123 rout of the Kings. The time before, in the preseason in Las Cruces, New Mexico, where Josh Howard slammed into Brad Miller and got suspended for 2 games. The Kings lost on Terry's GW 3 pointer 99-101. Howard's first game back was against the Kings. Dallas has a 6 game winning. This time, the Kings had their number. No Jerry Stackhouse due to injury. 1ST QUARTER The Mavs started off well with Devin Harris making his first shot, and what a great way to start off the Kings with John Salmons traveling. Turnovers have killed that team against other teams, bad or good. They had to make up for losing the ball, so Brad Miller and Beno Udrih led a 12-2 run with each of them scoring 4 points, resulting in an unhappy coach Avery Johnson. The Mavs would answer back back with a strong 22-3 run. Enter Kevin Martin coming off the bench during that run. He made his surprise return in coming in a loss to Indiana. Martin would stop the run by scoring the last 7/9 points as rookie Spencer Hawes scored his only 2 points with a great dunk to end the Kings scoring in the quarter, down 26-35. 2ND QUARTER Things seemed to go the Kings way in the 2nd quarter when Martin scored 11 points in 5 minutes off the bench. Not only that sophomore Quincy Douby nailed a 3 pointer and there was a foul away from the play, resulting in a 4 point play capped off by Martin. But the Mavs kept their distance with Devean George's huge putback dunk. George recieved loud boos from the fans, remembering that he was a former Laker. Even though the lead would look like it was getting out of hand, the Kings would keep it managable as Francisco Garcia's 3 pointers and Martin's continued attack would keep them close. Marrtin finished with 19 points in the 1st half, cutting the Mavs' lead to 55-57. 3RD QUARTER The Kings would spark an attck going into the 3rd quarter and Udrih's alley-oop to Mikki Moore had the crowd roaring as they grabbed their first lead since the first quarter. Sacramento would make a push as Garcia scored his final 22 points in the 3rd quarter (more on him later). The Kings were giving the fans what they wanted all year, EFFORT. They'd rather see them try and fail than not try and still fail. Their effort would lead the Kings leading into the 4th quarter with an 86-80 lead. 4TH QUARTER Now it was crunch time, where the Kings have not played well at. They've pulled off improbable wins and demoralizing losses all because of their 4th quarter play. They've made pushes and caved in. They had to stay together to win. That wasn't the case at the start. J.J. Barrea and Jason Terry made the first two 3 pointers to start off the quarter, but Salmons started to catch fire as he made the first 6 points in a row. He was followed up by Douby making 5 straight points putting up the Kings at 97-88. The Mavs started to close in with their team play but the Kings team play was solid for now. Dirk Nowitzki was quiet but started to lay it on late when he hit a 3 pointer but he started to get frustrated and he recieved a technical. Even Mark Cuban was getting mad. After that, the Mavs would strtike back. Eddie Jones would help tie the game hitting 5 straight points tying the game at 110. Things would go from bad to worse as Garcia was holding his right hand in pain, but would stay in the game. With less than a minute left in the Kings and Mavs would fight to the finish. Devin Harris, who had the hot hand all night was wide open for a 3 pointer. Salmons had 2 big lay-ups to keep the Kings close. Dallas would take a 117-118 lead after a Terry lay-up and foul shot. That was his fourth lay-up while getting fouled. But Kevin Martin took charge as he made his signature one handed floater and made the foul shot that would seemingly put away the game with 11 seconds left. After a time out, Jason Terry hit a jumper to tie the game, but that's when the Magic happened. Taking no time out the Kings gave the ball to John Salmons as he ran the whole lentgh of the court, started his driving lay-up at the 3 point line, took 2 big steps through 2 split defenders, banked it off the glass and hit the game winner over Dirk. Terry took a desperation 3 pointer from almost half court but it hit the side of the rim and the Kings upset the Mavs 122-120, snapping their 7-game winning streak as they fall to 26-12. While Mavs owner Mark Cuban left in disappointment, Kings co-owner Gavin Maloof celebrated around the court in victory as the crowd was going crazy off of another Kings game winner. Kevin Martin had a NBA season high 39 points on 14/16 shooting, off the bench to go along with 3 rebounds, an assist and a steal. John Salmons scored 22 points(14 in the 4th quarter) along with the game winner, to go with 4 rebounds and 3 assists. Francisco Garcia had another big night with 22 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals and a block. Brad Miller had a near double double with 11 points, 9 rebounds (5 off.) and team highs of 6 assists and 2 blocks. Beno Udrih put in a good performance with 12 point, 5 rebounds and assists each and a team high 3 steals. Quincy Douby had 8 points, 3 assists, a steal and a rebound. Mikki Moore was helpful when he was needed, getting 6 points, 3 rebounds (2 off.) and a block. Dahntay Jones didn't score, but he had a good defensive night with 4 rebounds (2 off.) and a huge block on Brandon Bass. Jason Terry was the spark off the bench scoring a team high 25 points, 7 assists and a block. Devin Harris led his team with 25 points and a game high 9 assists. Dirk Nowitzki had 21 points, 4 rebounds and assists each and a steal. Josh Howard got into early foul trouble and finished with 11 points, 6 rebounds, a steal and a block. Erick Dampier actually played good tonight as he had 8 points, 10 rebounds and 2 blocks. Brandon Bass was good with 11 points, 4 rebounds and 2 blocks. Eddie Jones had 10 points, 2 rebounds and 3 assists off the bench. Devean George finished with 4 points and 5 rebounds while J.J. Barea had 3 points, 2 rebounds and 3 assists. The only major mistake the Kings made was not defending the perimeter. Otherwise, they did pretty well. They forced Josh Howard, Dampier, Harris and Diop to get 5 fouls, they defended the paint well, they were out-rebounded by 1, and they had only 10 turnovers compared to Dallas' 19. The Kings have won the last 2/3 games on game winners (Memphis, Dallas) as they improve to 15-21. Two years ago, the Kings had a similar record when they acqiured Ron Artest and they made a run to get the 8th seed in the playoffs losing to the Spurs 4-2. The Kings last year were one game away from 0.500 but they lost to the Lakers in OT which led to a 7 game slide and they never recovered. This year is uncertain, but with Mike Bibby and Ron Artest both coming back off of injuries against the Raptors on Wednesday, the Kings could make a push. The team has been playing great as of late with a 3-1 homestand. So far the Kings have not played the Lakers, Raptors, Bobcats, Hawks and Heat, but they have beaten contenders like the Spurs, Mavs, Jazz, Magic, Pistons and now the Mavs. But still a trade might loom for either Mike Bibby or Ron Artest before the deadline, which might throw off the team, or make them even better. For now, the Kings have to travel to Canada and anti-Artest territory (Detroit, Indiana) to defend their record on the road. They'll be back to play the Nets at home.

Conley, Warrick Fall Short in Kings' Comeback 116-113

Fri, 11 Jan 2008 17:15:29 -0500

Yardbarkers Mike Conley Jr. and Hakim Warrick had season highs as they were in a fight to the finish against the Kings, Despite Rudy Gay's 31 point night, the Grizz lost their 10 point lead with 5 minutes to go and fell short to 3rd year clutch shooter Francisco Garcia as he hit his third GW this year. In the first half both teams would go on a stretch of runs. John Salmons, who was playing with the flu and was went home at first, had one of his best games of his career the first basket. After starting the game 2-2, the Kings would go on a 9-0. The Grizzlies answered back with with a 14-0 run grabbing a 5 point lead. It was tied at 16 when Garcia hit a 3 pointer and Mikki Moore threw down the slam. Feeding off of the crowd's energy of an exciting Brad Miller dunk (yes, exciting and Brad Miller can go in the same sentence), the Kings, still undermanned, would lead at the end of the first quarter 30-24. In the 2nd quarter, breakout point guard Beno Udrih would hit 4 straight shots scoring 9 straight points for the Kings. A steady attack by Memphis would trail behind the Kings. By the end, Kyle Lowery and Juan Carlos Navarro had 5 assists each and Pau Gasol only had 3 points in quarter with a total of 9 points. John Salmons led all scorers with 15 points at the half with Gay scoring a team high 14 points, leading Memphis to a 54-56 lead. In the 3rd quarter, it started to fall apart like it normally does for the Kings. Brad Miller had another great dunk to keep the Kings close, but Mike Miller was on fire hitting all 4 of his 3 pointers that he took scoring 16 points on 6/6 shooting up to the 3rd quarter. His shots were so good they wouldn't even hit the net, and no one picked him up when he was on his hot streak. Just like Memphis in the 1st quarter, a balacned attack would let the Kings trail behind the Grizz 81-85 at the end. That's when it got ugly for the Kings. Highflyer Dahntay Jones, who was playing against his former team, fouled out only 31 seconds into the quarter only playing 9 minutes. He didn't even know he fouled out and the ref had to tell him because it was so quick. Mike Miller missed his first shot but answered back with a dunk. This would lead up to a 10-4 run that seemingly doomed the Kings who were down 97-87. It was so bad that one of the hosts for the TV post game show even admitted that he was getting ready to talk about what everyone thought would be the latest Kings defeat, but no one expected the explosive end to the game. Led by Salmons and Brad Miller, the Kings would go on a 7-0 run to cut the lead down to 3 points. The Grizzlies were not ready to back down yet when Conley drove in for a lay-up. Udrih answered back with a 3 pointer, and Gasol answered back with a running hook shot. After Brad Miller hit 2 free throws, Gay used his newfound talent of long range shooting to knock down a 3 pointer that silenced the crowd. Udrih and Moore scored 4 straight points for the Kings but Gay coming up big hit a runner to put keep Memphis up. And after Garcia hit 2 free throws, Gay hits another 3 pointer. Everything the Kings would put up looked like it wasn't going to be enough, but they held on anyway not giving up, even with starting power forward Moore fouling out. Shot after shot was exchanged but the turnaround of the game had finally come up. Brad Miller tried to hit a 3 pointer but missed, but Udrih got the rebound and gave it up to Salmons. He missed but got his own long rebound and drove it in for a lay-up.Gasol missed the last of 2 free throws with Brad Miller grabbed his 10th rebound for a double double and took a time out. The Kings would put the ball into the hands of 2nd year guard Quincy Douby. Douby has shown the team he can score since he scored 14 points 2 straight games. He came up with his 6th point hitting a tough, clutch lay-up. Douby fouled Conley and he missed his last free throw letting Udrih get the rebound. With 16 seconds left the Kings were planning to either tie or win the game. Salmons had the ball in his hands, which was the smart thing to do because he hit many big shots earlier in the season. Salmons was driving into the traffic filled lane and kicked it out to Garcia. Garcia hit the 3 pointer that put the Kings up 114-113 with 7 seconds left. It was no doubt, the loudest Arco Arena has been all year. At the other end after a time out, Rudy Gay would drive the baseline for the win, but tough defense would cause him to lose grip of the ball out of bounds. After Brad Miller hit his last 2 free throws. Gasol had a bad inbounds pass with Brad Miller stealing it and throwing it up in the air to win the game 116-113. Garcia once again came through as the hero with another GW 3 pointer (Sonics, Nets). He had 22 points, 4 rebounds and steals each and a block. Salmons had his own flu game (take that Steve Nash) and played one of his best games of his career. Playing almost 47 minutes he had 28 points 11 rebounds (4 off.), 7 assists and no fouls. 2 time All-Star Brad Miller came through playing better than he did in the past getting 22 points (12/12 FT), 10 rebounds (5 off.), 5 assists, 2 steals and a block. Udrih came up big scoring 2 short of his career high (27 vs. Spurs) with 25 points along with 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals. Mikki Moore had 7 points and 7 rebounds (3 off.) with 2 blocks, but fouled out.Douby came up big with 6 points 2 rebounds and a steal, including a big lay-up that kept the Kings in the game. Rookie center Specner Hawes had 2 points and 3 rebounds while Dahntay Jones played 9 minutes getting 4 points, 2 rebounds, an assist and fouled out. Yardbarker Mike Conley Jr. had himself a career high 15 points at the starting point guard spot to go along with 3 assists and a steal. Fellow Yardbarker and teammate Hakim Warrick grabbed a season high 6 defensive rebounds and would finish with 6 points and 7 rebounds. Rudy Gay came up big scoring 1 point short of his career high (who doesn't score a career high against the Kings, seriously?) with 31 points, 7 rebounds, and 2 assists and steals each. Pau Gasol was cold for a while, but hit shots when they mattered the most. He finished with 19 points, 5 rebounds and 2 blocks. Mike Miller hot the hot hand with 6/6 shooting for 16 points and finished with 7/9 shooting for 19 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists and a steal. At first, J.C. Navarro couldn't hit a shot if he was wide open, but he finished with 10 points on 2/8 shooting (4/5 FT), 2 rebounds, 6 assists and a steal. Kyle Lowry was good as he dropped the same totals as Navarro except he had 8 points and 2 steals. Lost cause Darko Milicic only had 6 points but had 3 blocks, but was not impressive. It's the 18th straight loss that the Grizzilies have at Arco Arena, but they almost broke the arena record of 16 three pointers by a road team, but they only scored 13. John Salmons got the NBA Around the Association's quote of the night saying, "That's just how the NBA is, there are maybe five or 10 games I felt we should have won this year. It feels good to get one that maybe we didn't deserve." Garcia talke about his latest game winning 3 pointer saying, "It feels good making a shot like that when you've grown up watching guys like Michael Jordan and dreamed about doing it yourself.'' Rudy Gay thought they locked it up saying, "This one hurts, definitely, we thought we had this game.'' After beating one of the best road teams in the NBA (Magic 16-6), the Kings got a must-win and sent Memphis packing to their bus heading to Oakland to take on the Warriors and Yardbarker Baron Davis, tonight. That shoud be fun, 3 Yardbarkers in the same arena. This was one of the best comeback performances that I've seen in a while. Down by 10 with 5 minutes left, other team giving all it's got, win on a game winning 3. Now looking to play the Pacers with Jermaine O'Neal supposedly not playing, the Kings look to win their 3rd straight game before getting Kevin Martin back on Monday against Dallas and Mike Bibby back Wednesday at Toronto. Some are saying that the Pacers are a better team without O'Neal, but that's just what I've heard. I'm still planning to go to the open practice on Sunday at noon and the Mavs game on Monday where K-Mart makes his return. From what I've seen on TV, they're practicing and are performing well in practice. The question that's on every Kings fan's mind is after seeing players usually on the bench perform so well with the minutes they get, can they be this good or better when Kevin Martin, Mike Bibby and Ron Artest get back? The Kings highlighted the NBA Around the Association for January 10th, check it out. http://aol.nba.com/aroundtheassociation/

Kings Withstand Late Magic Surge, Win 104-100

Wed, 09 Jan 2008 18:31:17 -0500

Stan Van Gundy got sent a message for not taking the Kings' coaching job. Even though the Kings were up by 19 points early in the 3rd quarter, in the NBA no lead is safe from any team. The Kings attacked early in the game and took advantage of Dwight Howard riding the bench in the 2nd quarter. Despite a late rally fueled by J.J. Reddick and a crazy finish, the Kings were able to hold on against a very good 15-6 road team and maybe sent a message to could have been coach Stan Van Gundy. It was a game of familiar teammates squaring off. Turkish forward and potential all-star Hedo Turkoglu was drafted by the Kings, recieved a warm welcome from the crowd, and played against former Spurs teammate Beno Udrih, while Maurice "Mo" Evans was also a former King, Turkoglu also leads teammeate Rashard Lewis in all-star votes. It's unknown why Carlos Arroyo started at point guard, but it was probably to make Jameer Nelson the 6th man. The game started off hot as Dwight Howard scored the first 8 Magic points. The Kings weren't far behind as they took the lead and didn't look back as Udrih, John Salmons and Francisco Garcia scoring 20/26 first quarter points for the Kings. The Kings shot 4/4 from the beyond the arc including a 35 foot buzzer beater to end the quarter by Dhantay Jones, putting the Kings up 28-16. In the 2nd quarter the Kings took advantage of Howard on bench as they got a 10-0 run. Quincy Douby would come off the Kings bench with confidence as he would score 9 of his 14 points in the 2nd quarter, his second straight 14 point game. Udrih also had a big quarter with 10 of his 17 points in the 2nd as well. Dwight Howard was quiet with only 2 points in the quarter, mainly because they double teamed him, but Lewis would start to heat up with 8 points in the quarter, making it a 53-36 Kings lead at halftime. The Kings came in with a rare line-up of 7 footers at the end with Mikki Moore playing center, Justin Williams (6'10) at power forward and Spencer Hawes at small forward. This was to counter the Magic's interchangable line-up of Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu, who can play both small and power forward positions well. In the 3rd quarter, the Magic started to fight back, with Howard, Lewis and Turkoglu leading the way with a balenced attack. Together, they'd score 16/20 points in the quarter. Stan Van Gundy lost his cool earning a technical foul at 6:22 after arguing a foul call. The Kings would keep their cool while keeping a distance from the Magic with and Mikki Moore and Brad Miller leading the way. Mikki Moore scored 6/8 points in the quarter and 6 of his points were dunks, including a putback dunk at the end of the quarter. Brad Miller scored 11 points in the quarter and notched his 6th of the game. At the end, the Kings would maintain a comfortable 78-62 lead, but that lead would disappear as fast as it built up. After Keyon Dooling hit 4 free throws, it seemed like it was all over after Dahntay Jones took a rebound in the a from Turkoglu for the putback slam on his head to seemingly put away the game with all the momentum on the Kings side. Rookie center Spencer Hawes even hit his second 3 pointer of the year when it hit the rim, bounced high and fell into the net. This is where the Magic would make their run. An 11-1 run gave life to them and made an 19 point lead to a 9 point lead against a fatigued, undermanned Kings team. That's when rarely used J.J. Redick came in. He made the next 10/15 points for the team, cutting the Kings lead to 101-99. Before Redick made his last free throw, Lewis fouled out finishing with 22 points, 3 rebounds, an assist and a block. Jones and Turkoglu would make 4 straight free throws. Turkoglu would answer right back with a 3 pointer to make it 103-100. Francico Garcia would make one 1/2 free throws to give the Kings a 104-100 lead. That's when things got crazy. Coach Van Gundy made a terrible time out call using his last time out with 37 seconds left, which left no opportunity for the Magic to draw up any last second plays. When Redick passed up a 3 pointer he passed it to an unsuspecteing Keith Bogans who would have it knocked away by Garcia into the backcourt. Redick would get the inbounds going up the court, but in the last second he slipped and fell at the last second as Udrih got the steal and the Kings would win 104-100. Salmons was once again the hero of the night, especially hitting a shot to to beat the shot clock to put the Kings at 101. He had 21 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists and steals each. He was followed up by Miller, who averaged 21.25 ppg, 9.5 rebounds ppg. and 5.25 apg. the past 4 games. He finished with 20 points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists and a block. Udrih had a great scoring night and finished with 17 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists and a last second steal. Moore stole the show midway through the game with his explosive dunks finishing with 8 points and 12 rebounds (career high 13). Garcia was quiet throughout the game but finished with 11 points, 5 rebounds and a steal. He's averaged 17.2 ppg 5.8 rpg. and 1 spg. in the last 5 games. Quincy Douby led the bench with 14 points, with Dahntay Jones scoring 8 points and Hawes scoring 8 points and 2 rebounds. Justin Williams had 2 rebounds and no points. The Kings go up to 13-20 after coming from a 1-2 road trip and losing 4 straight at home. Their last win at home came against the Bucks Dec. 10. Before Redick's surge, the Kings bench outscored the Magic bench 25-16. Dwight Howard had another huge game with 29 points, 15 rebounds (4 off.), 2 steals, an assist and a block. Turkoglu, who leads his team second in scoring, finished with 14 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals. Jameer Nelson, who scored the game winning 3 pointer at Arco Arena last year, came off the bench to score 6 points and had 7 assists, while starter Carlos Arroyo had 2 points, rebounds and assists each. Mo Evans had 9 points 2 rebounds and 3 assists while Keyon Dooling had 5 points a rebound and an assist. This is an very underrated Kings team. They're undermanned with 3 star players injured and 4 young bench players who contribute. Kenny Thomas, the 5th man on the bench can't play anymore and 3/5 of the bench have played less than 2 years. Their current starting line-up is fatigued with 4/5 starters playing near 40+ minutes a night. "It kind of took the fun out of me, you have to have success at the end of games," Kings coach Reggie Theus said. "I look at it in many ways, good teams are always going to make a run. So they made a run and we held them off." The Nuggets, Knicks, Cavs and Bulls have taken advantage of that. Denver was the first team to expose it when they were down big and Kleiza hit the demoralizing game winning buzzer beater which stayed with the team throughout thier home stretch. The Cavs and the Bulls used 4th quarters to beat them and the Knicks used it to cut a 24 point lead to cut it down to 10. Douby and Jones have stepped up the past few games. It's time for Hawes to remember how he played earlier and Williams to remember how he was averaging near a double double at the end of last year. They need minutes to give the starters a break and gain confidence. Van gundy got sent a message by the Kings organization. After basically accepting the Kings job, using the car the organization bought him and even shopping for a house, he bailed out at the last second and accepted the Magic deal in Sacramento when he heard Billy Donovan had second thoughts. He made the right choice making the team a contender in the east but did so in a way that left Sacramento a sour taste. The Magic, however, have no problem being contenders on the road, but it's at home they need to improve with an under .500 record there. They're one of only 3 teams to have beaten the Celtics (Pistions and Cavs). "We were sluggish in the first half and didn't play hard enough until the fourth quarter," said Howard. "They had it going and we didn't. When a team has it going like them it is hard to get over." They'll finish their last western swing when in 4 more games as they take their 22-14 record with them. Point guard Mike Bibby is expected back in exactly 1 week and I'll be able to see him at the Kings open practice to see him and Kevin Martin to see their progress. Bibby has missed 11 weeks after injuring his left thumb in the preseason. Martin has not been cleared to practice with the team yet after a groin strain nearly a month ago. Ron Artest will be out because of his left elbow until next month. Shareef Abdur-Rahim barely played early this season and had knee surgery to finish his year. The worst thing that can happen to the Kings right now is an injury to any of their players right now. That's one more guy not in uniform and one less bench player to turn to. For now they'll have to rely on John Salmons 19.5 ppg. as a starter, the recent all-star play of Brad Miller, Beno Udrih's reliablility as a point guard and the recent bench play of Quincy Douby and Dahntay Jones he faces the team he was on for 4 years, the Memphis Grizzilies.

Knicks Ugly in Loss to Kings 107-97, Z-Bo Ejected

Thu, 03 Jan 2008 17:40:07 -0500

If you think that score was close the whole game, consider that the Knicks were down 82-58 in the 3rd quarter. The Kings' starters outscored the Knicks 98-38. 5 players outscored the whole Knicks team. Knicks' fans were booing and were said to chant "Fire Isiah!" the earliest time in a game this year, and on top of that Zach Randolph was ejected for throwing his headband at a ref. So as another episode of the soap opera "Madison Square Garden" continued, John Salmons lit it up like the show Hangtime, getting career highs of 32 points and 6 steals. Kings' coach Reggie Theus would know something about the show, he was the coach on the show for the first few seasons. The Kings were without their 3 best players with Kevin Martin and Mike Bibby due back this month and Ron Artest out 3-4 weeks. Now I know firsthand why the Knicks are so horrible with the 3rd worst record in the NBA. That's the worst defense I've seen since the Kings' defense last year. A lot of the decisions fall on the coach, who's supposed to keep this team together. When are they going to fire this guy? This guy wants to "leave a championship legacy" and they just went to 4 straight losing seasons as team president and head coach. How can they be so bad with supposedly talented players with Stephon Marbury, Eddy Curry, Zach Randolph, Quentin Richardson, Jamal Crawford and potential players David Lee, Nate Robinson and Renaldo Balkman who sparked a late game run? All I know is that I've had enough waiting for a Knicks' turnaround because until Isiah Thomas is given the Scott Skiles treatment, the Knicks are going to be a horrible team. Talent's nothing if team chemistry isn't right. Playing at MSG is always big for the Kings because 3 of their players are from NYC. Artest is from Queens, Francisco Garcia's from the Bronx and Quincy Douby's from Brooklyn.The Kings never trailed the game as Salmons started his career night with the first 5 Kings' points, leading to an 8-2 lead. Curry had the first 8 points to tie the game and the 15/19 Knicks' points. After a David Lee lay-up to tie the game at 21, the Garden acted like they've never seen a center hit a 3 before when Brad Miller scored it. It was only 28-23 at the beginning of the 2nd quarter, but the meltdown would begin. Sacramento would outscore the Knicks 26-17 in the quarter leading to a 54-40. The Knicks were starting to hear boos early in the game and chants of "Fire Isiah!" started early. At the start of the 3rd quarter after the Knicks made the first basket, Sacramento outscored the Knicks 24-16 to lead 82-58. It only got uglier for the Knicks when Randolph fouled rookie Spencer Hawes and threw his headband at an official. He got booed off of the court as he was ejected from the game and is expected to be fined. The Knicks tried an unlikely comeback in the 4th quarter when they were down 104-96, but 8 points would be the nearest they could get as the Kings won wire to wire. The Kings go up to 12-18, while the Knicks go down to 8-22. The Kings's starters outscored the Knicks' starters 98-38 going 4-1 on the road after losing 9 straight road games and losing 4 straight during the last homestand. Salmons was the best player in the NBA that night and had another game night with career highs of 32 points and 6 steals to go along with 11 rebounds and 6 assists. Brad Miller looks like he's back into all-star form scoring a season high 26 points to go along with a game high 16 rebounds, 2 assists and a block. Garcia had a great homecoming in NY finishing with 22 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks. Beno Udrih had a good night with 12 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 steals. Mikki Moore finished with 6 points and 7 rebounds and fouled out. In other Kings notes, Quincy Douby only had 4 points in his return home but had a great block on Marbury's 3 point attempt. Spencer Hawes scored 2 points in his first MSG game since college. Mike Bibby and Kevin Martin practiced on the court but didn't suit up for the game. Artest did not show up for the game, and in fact went to see his first Broadway show the day before getting elbow surgery. The The Knicks were horrible in this game, but a late 4th quarter surge made this game look close. Starters Quentin Richardson and Jared Jefferies combined for 0 points. Each had 4 rebounds while Richardson had 2 assists. Randolph finished with 5 points and 4 rebounds before getting ejected in the 3rd quarter. The Knicks had a -27 point differential when he was on the floor. Curry had 15 points in the 1st quarter but scored 9 points the rest of the game finishing with 24 points and 3 rebounds. Marbury came off the bench to get 16 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals. Nate Robinson came in with 19 points, 4 rebounds and 2 steals. David Lee gave a reason Knicks fans to stay with 11 points and a team high 12 rebounds. Renaldo Balkman came in to score 4 points to give the Knicks late energy. Rookie Wilson Chandler finished with 7 points, all in the 2nd quarter. The Kings have had breakout players John Salmons and Francisco Garcia just takeover in games. Salmons has averaged 19.7 ppg. as a starter and Garcia has averaged 18.9 ppg. I asked ESPN's David Thorpe in a live online chat who's stepped up the most and he said "Salmons is a revelation." Garcia has hit 2 game-winning 3 pointers against the Sonics and the Nets, and Salmons driving lay-ups have helped this team throughout games and clutch situations. These 2 guys have been phenomenal stepping up and if they play the same coming off the bench with Artest (19.1 ppg.) and Martin (24.5) and Bibby coming back, this team might have an offensive force to be reckoned with. As for the Knicks, good luck playing at San Antonio.