Your next year predictions for Kings.

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting GiantMidget:</div><div class="quote_post">The Warriors are nice but not better than the Kings,not yet anyway.</div>

Then why did the Kings lose to the Warriors twice in three days down the stretch?

It all depends on who the Kings get to fill in their holes at PF and SG (unless Martin does well), with their roster now I'd say they are out of the playoffs and maybe even lottery bound. I do agree with you about JJ though, if Phoenix loses him there will be a huge battle in the Pacific division. I'll take the Warriors to win the Pacific if JJ goes to Atlanta, the Dubs beat Phoenix twice down the stretch as well as the Kings, the Lakers arent going to be too great if they are relying on Kwame to be their savior. Right now my projected rank of the Pacific division is as follows:

1. Pheonix
2. Golden State
3. LAC (thats right, Brand, Kaman, Mobley, Magette, Livingston is a badass lineup)
4. LAL
5. Sacramento

Right now the Kings have no defense and are in rebuilding mode, the Pacific will be much improved next year and the Kings are the only team who seems to have gotten worse. This could obviously change if JJ leaves PHX, or if Reef or Antoine Walker sign with the Kings.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting GiantMidget:</div><div class="quote_post">Please see the quote for the Kings forum. Rebuilding mode?How about reloading mode.Their "holes" at Pf and SG?Thomas was getting around 15 and 8 in the starting lineup.Evans is solid at sg.The Kings were over 500. in a stretch where they played completely w/o Brad Miller and multiple games w/o Peja and Mobley,and they only had B jax back in the last couple games of the season. People are sleeping HARD on the Kings.</div>

Well, say hello to Bonzi. I still dont think this is going to make your team much better. I dont think the Kings are that bad but the Pacific is going to be much more competitive next season. The Suns probably wont be as good, the Warriors will be much tougher with a full year of Baron Davis, the Lakers got Phil which automatically gives them a shot at the playoffs (they were headed there last year before injuries and Rudy T retiring), the Clippers are not too bad. The Kings and are probably the odd men out now, they dont have much depth or much defense and i dont think their offense is good enough to carry them.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting GiantMidget:</div><div class="quote_post">There are no signs that point to the Kings offense not being flashy or not being enough to carry them to the playoffs.After the Kings traded Webber last year the teams scoring average actually went up,the average points scored per game went up even with all the injuries the team sustained.Questioning the Kings offense in anyway is foolish.The Kings are a definite lock for the playoffs unless theres some string of major injuries to multiple players.Bonzi Wells makes the roster better because he has good size,something Mobley didnt have.The Kings lost Bobby Jackson who only played 20 something regular season games last year.So how did the roster get worse.A badly injured Kings team WON 50 GAMES last year.All this talk about all these teams in the pacific getting better and leaving the Kings behind is nonsense.The Lakers are still mediocre at best.Sure the clippers signed Mobley,but they lost Simmons.So exactly what major improvements have they made?The Suns elite status in the division is hinged on signing Finley.The Warriors wont win more than 50 games.If the Phoenix Suns dont sign Michael Finley after they lose Joe Johnson the Kings will be a top seed in the playoffs.I still dont think people realize how many injuries this team had to deal with last year,and how many games they won anyway.</div>

36 of the Kings 50 wins came before Webber was traded. Thats more than 65% of the Kings wins were with Webber. If Bibby, Miller, or Peja get a significant injury the Kings likely will lose playoff hopes. That aside, the Kings have one average defender in their starting lineup, a 6-7 PF who has to compete in the PF dominated west, no defensive stoppers at all, and no shot blocking threat.

Phoenix averaged 112 PPG and had several good defenders, the Kings averaged 103 PPG and have 1 slightly above average defender. No defense at all and the offensive production isnt that great.

If you look at the last 10 games of the season, Golden State averaged the most PPG (113.4), Sacramento came 2nd (110.2), Phoenix 3rd (108.8). Good numbers by all three teams but if you look at the difference between the team and opponents of the three, Sacramento's is lowest at +4, GS is next lowest at 5.40, Phoenix has the greatest difference in PPG at 6.9.

Stats arent everything and Phoenix very well could drop production but as it stood in the last games of the season, GS and Phoenix were better than Sacto. Since then, the Kings have not improved while GS got a post game and its young squad is more developed, Phoenix may lose JJ but could pick up almost all the lost slack by signing Finley, plus they also have to compete with the Lakers (who are notorious for beating the Kings) whom have Kobe and Phil.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting GiantMidget:</div><div class="quote_post">Avery,youre trying too hard.If you cant realize how loaded the Kings lineup is then theres no point in arguing with you.Its seems like the popular belief is that the Warriors are already better than the Kings.The Warriors have the best backcourt in the league,but what else do they have?Dunleavy,Pietrus,Diogu(rookie),Biedrins are all fine players,but I dont see how these players make them better than Sac.Its not as if Bibby and Wells is a weak backcourt.With that being said,other than Golden States backcourt,the Kings have an obvious advantage.</div>

I wouldn't go saying GS has the best backcourt in the league, Kidd and Carter is probably better. Lets match up players by position.

PG, both teams have quality PGs but Baron is top 3. They averaged around the same ppg and RPG but Baron wins in assists and defense. Slight edge Warriors.

SG, Richardson beats Wells in every category except defense. J-Rich is an average to slightly above average defender while Bonzi is a very solid defender. I dont know much about Kevin Martin's game but I'm fairly sure Pietrus is at least as good offensively and i know Pietrus is much better defensively. Advantage Warriors.

SF, Niether Peja or Dunleavy are good defensive players but Dunleavy is average, giving him the edge. Offensively Peja is far and away a better shooter/scorer, advantage Kings.

PF, Kenny Thomas and Troy Murphy both arent good defensively, Kenny is too small Troy just doesn't care. Offensively Troy gets more points and rebounds. Warriors are also much deeper at PF, advantage warriors.

C, Miller is okay defensively while Foyle is above average, Miller pretty much destroys Foyle in everything else, advantage Kings.

Warriors are better at 3 positions, and their bench is probably better at every position. Kings are better at two positions, bench not as good though.

 

I agree, the last half of the season was injury plagued for the Kings but the Kings can lose any 1 of three players and be out of contention for the playoffs while the Warriors and Suns need one specific player to get injured. Our player comparisons sound exactly the same but the Warriors have slightly better offense at every position except center as well as better defense at PG, SF, and C. Not to mention the Warriors have great players on the bench. Who on Sacramento's bench is as good as Pietrus? Cabarkapa? Fisher even? The Warriors are slightly better on offense, quite a bit better on defense, and have much more depth than the Kings.

You can even look at the season series to see who the better team is, Golden State won 3 out of 4 times. One of the wins came without Davis and while the Kings had Webber but with Baron we have yet to be defeated by the Kings. We've beaten you with or without Davis, and even when we had Davis he wasnt 100%. The season series say the Warriors are better, stats say the Warriors are better, and if you look at the rosters it should be plain to see that the Warriors have an edge over the Kings.