Anyone see this happening? 5-4. Tied for 7th in the West. Paul Westphal is an instant Coach of the Year front runner. Tyreke Evans is a strong contender for rookie of the year (and maybe even an All Star bid!) Jason Thompson making a play at Most Improved (27/11/2/2 tonight! Another possible All Star?) And their "best player" Kevin Martin isn't playing. Kings might look to trade Martin. Do we want him?
A) Evans has been playing well all season, averaging 17.1 ppg, 4.6 rpg, & 4.3 apg, transforming what everyone considered to be the worst team in the league into a possible playoff team. B) Jason Thompson is averaging a double double- 16.1 ppg & 10.2 rpg. Maybe only Kaman and Bynum are being more productive from the center position in the West this season. Greg is hopefully moving into the conversation as well. Who else am I missing? Amare is only grabbing 7.9 rpg and technically, he isn't the center anyway. Nene? 14 & 9? Okur? No.
Come on SpeedyK, weren't you just saying last night that it was too early in the season to tell what Oden is going to do and now you are singing the praises of the Kings based off 9 games? Lets see where the Kings are at after the all star break before we going talking about them being a playoff team.
martin is a loser ala durant. evans looks to be a closer, nice find by them, especially after they got panned for the selection.
They had a great 9 games, but I don't think even they expect to keep it up. Bad teams get hot for 10 game stretches every year, then barely win a game over the next 10. I'd wait to see where they are after the next 12 games, that'll be a quarter of the way through the season.
Tyreke Evans could be the ROY. But him and Jason Thompson as All-Stars? please... they will not play in the ASG. Rookie-Sophomore game probably.
The most amazing thing is that they are doing it without unleashing Sergio. Just imagine what will happen once he is seeing heavy minutes!
still beating a good defensive team like houston and scoring 109 isnt easy. Have we scored 109 once all year? we are lucky to get 80 these days.
We've scored 107 twice and 116 once and we've never scored less than 80 this year. I know that must bum you out.
all im saying is... we seem to need a pure scorer at the SF spot. I feel like sometimes we just cant score if the jumper isnt falling.
It may not need to be at the small forward position, but I think I get what you're saying. It's like we need our own version of Jason Terry or Manu off the bench; a guy that comes in and gives you instant scoring and can be a game changer and no matter what you can count on at least some level of production. I think the real trouble right now is that you never know what you're going to get from Martell, Travis, or Rudy. If any one of those guys was hitting consistently (no more of this 4-4 one night and 1-5 the next crap) I think it would be a tremendous boost for this team. Currently the only bench guy I see coming in and giving us that Vinnie Johnson kind of pop is Bayless, he's still not exactly comfortable out there running the team through sets and recognizing mismatches, but the guy can get into the lane and score nearly at will which is a skill nobody else seems to possess on this team.
i think bayless can be our microwave off the bench right now. he is basically unstoppable when he is taking it to the basket. rudy should be dealt imo before his value drops too low. if batum is back and playing well by the all star break, i would love to see rudy and outlaw out for a legit sixth man.
Context: Leading to: Perhaps what "seems" to you isn't actually true? It seems to me that your perceptions are a bit skewed, perhaps by your unbounded, crazy optimism.
Who would that be? Outlaw is one of the best 6th men in the league and he has not one but THREE guys backing him up in Bayless, Webster, & Rudy. Why trade 2 for 1? And who do you propose out there that is better than us having both of our guys?
