<div align="center">@ Saturday, February 5 2005 Rose Garden - Portland , OR Projected Starters C- Brad Miller PF- Darius Songaila SF- Matt Barnes SG- Maurice Evans PG- Mike Bibby C- Joel Przybilla PF- Theo Ratliff SF- Ruben Patterson SG- Nick Van Exel PG- Damon Stoudamire -Injury Report- SACRAMENTO ? Bobby Jackson PG Wrist I-L. 1/7 ? Chris Webber PF Knee Probable ? Cuttino Mobley SG Back Probable ? Predrag Stojakovic IR Back Questionable PORTLAND ? Derek Anderson SG Sinus Questionable ? Ha SeungJin IR Back I-L. 1/23 ? Shareef AbdurRahim IR Elbow I-L. 1/7 ? Viktor Khryapa SF Foot I-L. 11/1 -ESPN Preview- Mike Bibby and Brad Miller look to keep the Sacramento Kings thriving in the face of mounting injuries Saturday when they face the Portland Trail Blazers. In four games without Webber and Stojakovic - Sacramento's two leading scorers - Miller is averaging 26 points and Bibby 25.7. The Kings defeated the Blazers, 113-107 in overtime on January 18 at Sacramento behind a 32-point, 13-rebound performance from Webber. Four of the last seven meetings between the teams have gone into overtime. In Full -Prediction- Portland's always tough. The spread is two, in favor of Portland. Sac needed OT with Webber & Co., so you know this'll be close. I think Miller and Bibby will tear it up though. SAC 110 POR 107</div>
this should be a great game Starting 5 Breakdown.. Przybilla vs. Miller - Advantage Sac. (B-Miller has been playing out of this world recently, this is a BIG advantage for the Kings obviously, however Theo could help on the weak side which would make it tough for Miller) Ratliff vs. Songalia - Advantage Por. (Sure.. Songalia will score more than Theo most likely, but Theo's impact on the defensive end is amazing, he alters so many shots and changes the game in many cases) Patterson vs. Barnes - Advantage Por. (These two guys are similar in a respect they are all about hustle, small advantage to Patterson due to him being such a solid defender) Van Exel vs. Mobley - Advantage Sac. (Van Exel is coming off a non-existent night, expect him to bounce back in this one, seems to play well versus teams like Sacramento but Mobley is back and will put up some big time scoring) Stoudamire vs. Bibby - Advantage Sac. (Mike Bibby is coming off a 40 pt. effort, and many big games in a row, has the advantage on Mighty Mouse in this one, Damon isn't playing that bad himself, but none the less.. Kings advantage) -Bench Matchups- Miles, Telfair, Randolph vs. Evans, Martin, Ostertag Blazers have a huge advantage here, on paper at least... expect Randolph to log starters minutes regardless of him not starting the game, advantage Portland.. This one is hard to call, I say Blazers by 2. **If Webber Plays... throw out all this, Kings win Ha**
Portland is one of those teams that will kill you if you underestimate them.They have good talent its just that theyre inconsistent.Stoudamire shot the ball really well and Randolph finally came out of his slump.Even though the Kings lost its just good to see almost everyone back and playing(bobby jackson).The Kings will definitely need their starting lineup intact heading into this tough month schedule wise.Heres a crazy stat,the kings only got outrebounded by 1 but totaled 21 offensive boards and 18 defensive.
Bibby needs to work on his defense, it seems when he scores over 30.. so does the player he attempts to guard.. ha good win for Portland, the Kings got a triple double out of C-Webb and a big game out of Bibby but just nothing out of Peja and Mobley which killed them in the end.
I think Sacramento may face some difficulties against Portland's depth, and their frontline. Randolph, Ratliff, and Abdur-Rahim may be able to bully Sacramento inside and more importantly, on the boards. If The Kings maintain close rebounding numbers, and limit points in the paint, they should be able to dominate this ball game...
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting King James X3:</div><div class="quote_post">I think Sacramento may face some difficulties against Portland's depth, and their frontline. Randolph, Ratliff, and Abdur-Rahim may be able to bully Sacramento inside and more importantly, on the boards. If The Kings maintain close rebounding numbers, and limit points in the paint, they should be able to dominate this ball game...</div> the game is already over dawg LOL, and Rahim is on the IL
Yup game has already happened,instead of Portland winning by pounding Sac on the boards they did it by flat out shooting the ball better.I hope this doesnt become a trend.Last night the knicks shot 61% from the field and tonight Portland shot 55%.
Opps, my day has been consumed by The Ultimate Fighting Championship Pay Per View, sorry Sacramento. Glad to see we're getting our players back healthy though, hopefully Mike Bibby and Brad Miller can continue to contribute in big ways along side Webber and Peja now that they've returned to the lineup. If that can happen on a regular basis, Sacramento is more than capable of stringing together a nice win streak....
