[IMGl]http://espn-att.starwave.com/i/teamlogos/nba/sml/trans/sac.gif[/IMGl] <font color="DimGray"><font size="3">Sacramento Kings Season Preview</font></font> by harbingerofdoom The Kings started the off-season with the ability to do something that almost NEVER happens in the NBA. Get better by doing nothing. Unfortunately, they lost Divac to free agency and an apparent feud has started between Chris Webber and Peja Stojakovic. It seems the Kings are the NBA?s tough luck kids with their bad luck in the playoffs and bad injuries during the year. They could possibly be one of the best teams in history to never make the finals. Could this year be different? Maybe it can, and maybe it can?t. The Kings do have the good fortune to have a lot of talent at all positions. Webber is the Kings first and foremost question in that puzzle. If he can get back to his pre knee surgery days, he will be a dominant force in the west during the coming season. If not? Well?there are still options available to them if they are gutsy enough to use them during the next off-season. The next big question is Stojakovic. There has been a lot in the media in regards to his public request for a trade. How much of that is smoke and how much of that is reality has yet to be determined, but either way, don?t expect to see him anywhere else at the start of the season. <font size="3">Starting five: </font> There is really going to be little difficulty figuring out who the starting five on this team will be. The only change from last year will be at center with Brad Miller and the power forward with Webber. At the start of last year, Miller was starting at the 4 spot while Webber was recovering from off season knee surgury. Bibby and Christie will be starting at the 1 and 2 spots with Stojakovic and Webber starting at the 3 and 4. <font size="3">Off-season pickups</font> Kevin Martin [quoteright] <font face="Times New Roman">G 6'7 Western Carolina (1st round draft)</font> [/quoteright] The reports on Martin are all over the place. Depending on who you trust, Martin could land anywhere from the biggest steal of the draft to flipping burgers in three years. Martin's Final NCAA season left him ranked second in scoring at 47.4% from the floor, 24.9ppg and 33.6% from 3pt range. During the 03-04 season he scored more than thirty points on 8 occasions in 27 games. For someone that has that kind of output in his final NCAA season, I have to go with the folks that have a brighter outlook for his future. He does have a good touch on the ball when he shoots, has above average I.Q. for the game and is well known for his movement with the ball. He lacks defensively in the area of size and strength, but that might not be too big of a deal with his length and instinct for the game. The largest drawback is the fact that he has been turnover prone. He does have a good work ethic, so that is something that he should be able to improve upon. Expect to see him in get some minutes at the 2 spot, but don?t be surprised to see him come in at the 1 if Bibby and Jackson get into Foul trouble. Christie is getting to the end of his career and Martin looks to be the heir apparent at that position. It?s his for the taking and he has two years to prove he can take it. Ricky Minard [quoteright] <font face="Times New Roman">G 6'4 Morehead St. (2nd round draft)</font> [/quoteright] Minard will most likely be fourth in the PG rotation behind Bibby Jackson and Martin, which means don?t expect to see too much of him unless the game is already out of reach either way. Minard can create his own shots and excellent ball handling skills along with a great work ethic. One point that many of the NBA scouts have noted is his ability to play at both the 1 and 2 spots. Which will also lead to the first set of hurdles he is going to have to overcome, size and long range shooting. Even as a guard, Minard is reported as being slightly undersized at 6'4 (although I'm really not sure how that is undersized for a guard). Does that mean much? Not really, when you consider players like Mugsey Boges Spud Webb and Allen Iverson who are all guards significantly smaller than Minard. The bigger drawback that Minard brings is a long range shooting ability that has slowly declined every year he was in the NCAA. Minard will have chances to prove he can start or at least be an effective role player in the NBA, but he won?t have a lot of them so he is going to have to make the best of every one of them. Greg Ostertag [quoteright] <font face="Times New Roman">C 7'2 (FA signing) </font>[/quoteright] This signing left more than just a few people scratching their heads. With Divac Leaving and Miller moving to start at center, The Kings had to find a solid veteran backup to Miller and still stay within the cap. Most of the head scratching about that signing is because Ostertag is not a solid offensive presence. Here is why it?s not a bad signing: He wasn?t brought in for his offensive abilities. Ostertag was brought in to do four things. Relieve Miller, grab rebounds, block/force adjustments on shots and not loose the ball. Of the four things listed, the turnovers are the only real area of concern. The other three are well within his comfort zone. He also brings experience. Ostertag has made 87 playoff appearances and in those games averaged 1.85 BPG and 5.4 RPG. His regular season stats are better than that. Don?t be surprised to see Ostertag in at the 5 spot while Miller and Webber shift to the 4 and 3 spots for important defensive stands. In fact, you should expect to see it at least a few times early in the season. David Bluthenthal [quoteright] <font face="Times New Roman">SF 6'7 (FA signing)</font> [/quoteright] Bluthenthal comes to the Kings after a playing for Euro League champions Maccabi Tel Aviv. At SF, you can expect to see him come in to relieve Stojakovic bringing with him a considerable mid and long-range game. Some of the ways that Bluthenthal has been described are "...he has the strength and speed to be an inside presence" "...best known for his unlimited three point shooting range" "...No better shooter or post up player". Those are direct quotes, the last being from Henry Bibby, USC head coach and father of Bluthenthal's new teammate Mike Bibby. The point in quoting those people is that those are the same things that were said about the Kings current standout SF Peja Stojakovic. It would appear that Petrie went out looking specifically for a player that came from the same mold and Stojakovic, and may have found one, only with a better defensive game. The real question on Bluthenthal is can he adjust to the NBA. If the answer to that is yes, the kings will be set at the SF position regardless of what happens to Stojakovic. If the answer is no, the Kings better not waste any time getting whatever they can for Peja at the end of this season. <font size="3"> Stat predictions:</font> This upcoming season is going to look so vastly different from the year before that I'm not even going to attempt to mention team numbers. It revolves around one reason: Injuries. Webber spent the majority of the year on crutches and Jackson missed 28 games at the end of the season with an abdominal injury. The result? Skewed stats for everyone. Expect to see the stats for just about everyone to go back to where they were two years ago with the exception of Bibby. Chris Webber: [quoteright] [/quoteright]should pick up around 20ppg, 8-10 RPG with a slightly higher average of 6-7 APG. Raising his stats from last year shouldnt be anything difficult as he spent most of last year on the sidelines and his return was something short of spectacular. Webber has been very vocal about the level of play from last years Kings and has come out saying that he expects to step his game up. How he will fair this season is anybody's guess. I expect for him to start the season off strong and fade around the all star break. From there its just a matter of whether Webber is going to step up to his off season comments. Peja Stojakovic: [quoteright] [/quoteright]Last year he had a career year, but that was in part based on taking up the slack for the missing Webber. That production had to come from somewhere and Stojakovic provided it. This year?s numbers however will be more like 18-20 PPG, 2-4 APG and about 4-5 RPG. There is a cloud of suspicion over Stojakovic right now after his trade request. I have to think that if he is serious about being traded, he is going to have to hit those numbers. If he doesnt, he isnt going to be worth as much as people think he is. Brad Miller: [quoteright] [/quoteright] Miller had his second best season last year, but most of it came from the 4 spot. This year, expect his PPG to come down a bit to around 11-12 (last year he was 14.1PPG). The APG should still stay fairly high compared to previous years, in the range of 5-6 APG, now that he is starting at center (last year he handed out 4.3 APG). Miller has always been a fairly solid rebounder and should stay around 10 RPG. Mike Bibby [quoteright] [/quoteright] expect about the same as you saw last year, perhaps one to two PPG lower. Yes, Bibby did have his best year ever, but the experience he has gained will keep him at that high level along with fact that every year, he has proven to be a clutch performer. The Kings will be depending on Bibby a lot more when the game is on the line. Christie and Jackson: [quoteright] [/quoteright] Both will pick up where they left off as far as point production, assists and rebounding goes. Christie will once again be in the hunt for steals per game. Jackson will be making a much welcomed return after missing several games last year. Along with him comes some of the most amazing "circus shots" that you will see, instant energy off the bench combined with a lack of fear that makes him very dangerous once he gets his shot going. <font face="Verdana"><font size="3"> Keys for success</font></font> Defense. That is all they need to win it all even with the current drama between Webber and Stojakovic. The problem is, the Kings have never been known as a defensive team and Adelman is not likely to change his approach to game. It would appear that Petrie is starting to look at players with an eye towards defense, but don?t count on the new additions to the Kings to bring a whole lot to the table this year. Unfortunately for the Kings, defense is the one thing they need to get in order to get to the finals, and the one thing they have thus far failed to correct in the Starting lineup. <font size="3">X-factor: </font>Or in this case.. factor<u>S</u> The first thing that has to be considered an unknown is Webber and Stojakovic. On the one hand, If Webber can close the gap with Stojakovic, there is nothing the Kings cannot accomplish offensively and the rest of the Western Conference should worry. If Chris and Peja can?t find it in themselves to play nice, it still winds up falling in the area of the unknown. A little discord seemed to do wonders for Bryant and O'Neal. It might be the same with Webber and Stojakovic. The final X-factor is the play of rookies Martin and Bluethenthal. If they can come in as backups for Christie and Stojakovic without dropping a single step, the Kings will be looking good in the post season. Its one of those rare times when the play of the rookies can add to a lot to a team, but there is little chance it will detract from the team as a whole. Hopefully, the Kings will be able to see what they can do with an injury free season. <font size="3"> Final words:</font> Sacramento should have no problem being one of the premiere teams in the Western Conference this year. They have added some depth to the bench and let a lot of players go that did not contribute much. The key questions are the issues with Webber and Stojakovic and the lack of defense. If the issues between Webber and Stojakovic can be sorted out or even sort themselves out, the Kings will be in good shape to make it deep into the post season. If it becomes a distraction for the team, then the kings will be making another quick exit from the playoffs in the second round at the latest. In addition, the lack of defense is concerning. It's no secret that the Kings are soft defensivly, and for them to make any real run at the title, they are going to have to get better on defense. The reality of this, however, is that this is pretty much the same team as last year and there is little chance that they are going to suddenly become a group of defensive stoppers. The Kings should wind up in the neighborhood of 55-27, winning the Pacific Division. and being 4th or 5th seed in the playoffs. That is, of course, assuming that everything goes well. If there is too much trouble between Webber and Stojakovic, they might drop as low as 7th or 8th seeds, but should still make the playoffs.
The Kings also just picked up Courtney Alexander...I think that is a good pickup. He fits into the Kings run-n-gun style. When heathly, not too many guys can put up points at Alexander's rate. Hopefully, being in Northern California again where he flourished will help revive his career after the achilles injury last season
Good review, although if they win the Pacific Division, as I expect they will, they would have no worse than a 3rd seed. And it seems a stretch that Webber would average 6-7 assists a game, which would be a career high at a time that his game is no longer what it was a few years ago.
Great Review Here.This really is a Make it or Break it year for the Kings,and i'm hoping our team can get some great defense on this year,as Defense is our greatest problem we have been having here for years. I Expect we will win the Pacfic conference,but i don't know if we can get past the 1st round of the playoffs.i just want another winning season here to be sucessful,and rewarding for us Kings fans.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting MR_SAC_KING:</div><div class="quote_post">I Expect we will win the Pacfic conference</div> Hehe. :mrgreen: Great review. The Kings will be tough to beat in the Pacific, and I believe their only competition is the Lakers. If Webber can stay healthy this time around, the Kings will be really good again. Bibby will torch most of the guards...and Peja is Peja...just hopefully he'll have a winning attitude still. Ostertag is hurt, I believe, but I don't think he'll even be a factor Good luck in the Pacific :thumbsup:
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting realdealbneal:</div><div class="quote_post">Hehe. :mrgreen: Great review. The Kings will be tough to beat in the Pacific, and I believe their only competition is the Lakers. If Webber can stay healthy this time around, the Kings will be really good again. Bibby will torch most of the guards...and Peja is Peja...just hopefully he'll have a winning attitude still. Ostertag is hurt, I believe, but I don't think he'll even be a factor Good luck in the Pacific :thumbsup:</div> I Have to agree with your statement Brandon .I Don't know about Webber staying healthy or not,and if he does i believe the Kings will be better,but eveb if not,the Kings will have a great year,and Ostertag was never a factor to begin with Peja and Bibby will have a good year,and i think this will be yet another great year for the Kings franchise.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting realdealbneal:</div><div class="quote_post">Hehe. :mrgreen: Great review. The Kings will be tough to beat in the Pacific, and I believe their only competition is the Lakers. If Webber can stay healthy this time around, the Kings will be really good again. Bibby will torch most of the guards...and Peja is Peja...just hopefully he'll have a winning attitude still. Ostertag is hurt, I believe, but I don't think he'll even be a factor Good luck in the Pacific :thumbsup:</div> I dunno about that.... I think that the Kings and Lakers will both get some competition from the Suns... It might not amount to anything in the long run, but the possibility is certainly there. And yes, Ostertag is not going to be any huge factor either way... he is a backup with expectations that are well within his grasp (unlike boxes apperently) all he needs to do is not mess up.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting harbingerofdoom:</div><div class="quote_post">I dunno about that.... I think that the Kings and Lakers will both get some competition from the Suns... It might not amount to anything in the long run, but the possibility is certainly there.</div> The Suns could be the draw of the card so to speak.Phoenix could be the dark horse of the NBA Pacfic,but i do believe the Kings will win it,but it will probabaly not be as easy as most people think.
What I don't like about the Suns is their problems with Amare not wanting to play center...and Marion wanting to stay at the SF. Plus, Richardson is more than likely going to start at the 2, and everyone knows that Kobe, McGrady, Ginobili, Finley, Sprewell, etc. (I could go on) will burn this guy offensively, since he has no defense whatsoever. As far as the Kings go...about Webber, if he does get hurt, I seriously don't like the looks of it. Didn't Brad Miller move down to PF last year when Webber was out? If so, who will play center? Ostertag...unless I'm missing someone. Anyways, good luck Kings. :thumbsup:
Lakers are my favorites over the Kings to win the Pacific, but it'll be close. With yet another final season game @ Portland (April 20) , wouldnt it be cool if Kobe hits another couple miracle shots to help Lakers win the Pacific again?
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting realdealbneal:</div><div class="quote_post"> As far as the Kings go...about Webber, if he does get hurt, I seriously don't like the looks of it. Didn't Brad Miller move down to PF last year when Webber was out? If so, who will play center? Ostertag...unless I'm missing someone. Anyways, good luck Kings. :thumbsup:</div> yeah, Miller started at the 4 last year. If something happens to Webber they might just start Songaila at the 4.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting dallasdude:</div><div class="quote_post">Lakers are my favorites over the Kings to win the Pacific, but it'll be close. With yet another final season game @ Portland (April 20) , wouldnt it be cool if Kobe hits another couple miracle shots to help Lakers win the Pacific again?</div> I Don't know if we will see that happening at all,but the Kings i believe will be number 1 in the pacfic conf.the Lakers number 2,unless the Suns play great this season,the Suns number 2,and Lakers number 3. But this is going to be a highly watched contest between the Lakers and the Kings...once again :thumbsup:
^I don't think so at all. I'll put my neck on the line and say that Sacramento will win the division by at least 5 games.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting 44Thrilla:</div><div class="quote_post">^I don't think so at all. I'll put my neck on the line and say that Sacramento will win the division by at least 5 games.</div> What less to expect from Celtics fans..
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting 44Thrilla:</div><div class="quote_post">^I don't think so at all. I'll put my neck on the line and say that Sacramento will win the division by at least 5 games.</div> I Think not...it really depends on if with the Lakers new revamped lineup,and how they can play against other teams in the west,and if the Kings can captialize on the other teams,than it can be a close call.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting dallasdude:</div><div class="quote_post">What less to expect from Celtics fans.. </div>What does that even mean? Anyways...let's stay on-topic here. This is the Kings forum, and it is a thread discussing their upcoming season. Others posted their thoughts on how they would end up this season, and so did I. In good fun or not, comments such as those are not needed here. If you would like to speak on the topic at hand, go right ahead. If not, feel free to PM me with whatever it is you'd like to say. Any further pointless attack posts by you in this forum will be promptly deleted.
I better watch my mouth next time! Didnt see your "JBB Team Leader" title. I was just kidding as usual..No pun intended
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting dallasdude:</div><div class="quote_post">I better watch my mouth next time! Didnt see your "JBB Team Leader" title. I was just kidding as usual..No pun intended</div> dude... are you seriously trying to sell the idea that its OK to slam someones opinion so long as they arnt a mod, but if they are a mod, then you need to be watching what you are saying? that is just plain weak... if you are going to have the cajones to say something you better stick to it ... and if you cant say it to a mod, then perhaps you shouldnt be saying it at all
