Showing posts with label Sacramento Kings. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sacramento Kings. Show all posts

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Your favorite inconsistent NBA post is back from last year!  I never really had a full grasp on how to do this blog, but I think I have figured it out. There will be similar elements from Bucks Buzz, but in reality, it will be its own post on Wednesday (Or Thursday). I do not really have a time for when it will be up but there will be all sorts of random shit I happen to come across on the Internet plus some thoughts about the week that was.

Players of the Week 
Kevin Durant - Without question, the Most Valuable Player so far this season. Durant is averaging 29 points
a game with eight rebounds and six assists to boot. Durant deserves this one so far without question. KD won this honor not like a Susan Lucci's career award rather he is currently in an amazing five game stretch. Durant had 36 points, 10 rebounds and five assists against Indiana which to me said 'Alright we are giving Paul George too much love' and he just tore up the court. Actually, he said that in a way telling media row 'Write about that.'  In his last five games, three of them have been double-doubles for Durant which was a past knock on KD that all he could do was get buckets. Durant is also doing more in the paint as he is not shooting much from three. I would pay thousands to watch a playoff series with KD and George going at it.

Andre Drummond - This is more like a Susan Lucci as it seems we have it with SnoTap's second POY. Drummond did have a monster effort against Milwaukee last Wednesday with 23 points and 19 rebounds, but Dre is doing big things in his second year with Detroit. Drummond is averaging nearly 13 rebounds a game with 13 points per game. When big men are doing these sorts of things in their second year of professional basketball, it is pretty telling. Drummond can definitely be one of the best in the next coming years. I realize that might sound like hyperbole, but Dre is truly a great player.

'I am not mad, I am disappointed' Player of the Week
Kobe Bryant - This might be a troll move by me here, but I will go with it because people expected so much from Kobe in his first couple games back with the team. People drew up unrealistic expectations for a 37-year old coming off an ACHILLES injury. I saw folks saying he would score over 30 points in his first game back with the team on Sunday against Toronto. He struggled mightily, and played a little bit better against Phoenix yesterday when he had 20 points on 6/11 shooting. The microscope on Kobe will be large for awhile especially if he keeps struggling to Kobe's standards. I think he will be fine, but I am glad to see people tempered their expectations.

Team of the Week
Oklahoma City Thunder - Not only does KD get the POY, Oklahoma City wins Team of the week with winning eleven of their last twelve games. The Thunder are now at 16-4 with one game back of Portland for the best record in the Western Conference. They had impressive wins against Indiana, Los Angeles Clippers, Denver, San Antonio, Golden State as well as beating Atlanta. They head to Memphis tonight in what is always a spirited rivalry especially with Kendrick Perkins and Zach Randolph if he plays. Oklahoma City is rounding into form nicely, and showing it really does not matter about the supporting cast in the regular season as long as Durant and Russell Westbrook are two of the starting five.

Team of the Weak
Orlando Magic - It appears Orlando has fallen back to earth in the recent games. No one expected much from Orlando, but they were hanging around with sub-500 group of teams who could have turned it around ending up in the playoffs. Now Magic look like they are heading for Tanksville USA. Orlando dropped six straight games and they are not doing it in close fashion either minus a defeat to a fellow tanker, Philadelphia. In their five losses during this streak, they have fallen by 75 points combined including a 38 point defeat to New York Knicks.

SnoTap Medical Injury Report  
Tyreke Evans - Not many serious injury issues, but Tyreke Evans will miss two weeks with an ankle injury. This does not help New Orleans one bit whose already lost Anthony Davis. They have a brutal stretch of games until the New Year with two games against Denver and Portland including other hard battles with Golden State, Memphis and Los Angeles Clippers. New Orleans needs to find a way to remain .500 by the end of the month if this team wants to at least still have a voice in the playoff hunt. If Evans is back then Davis should be back by mid-January.

Trading Places
I know I shit on Rudy Gay's deal earlier in the week, but honestly, it is not a bad trade for Sacramento honestly with the players they gave up in the deal. They did not give up a draft pick which is important. Kings gave up John Salmons, Greivis Vasquez, Patrick Patterson and Chuck Hayes. Maybe Vasquez turns out to be something, but he might be the only one where Kings fans are saying 'We should not have dealt him.' Sacramento getting Quincy Acy is a sneaky good piece as well whom could turn into something.

This Week in GIFs, Vines, Tweets, Instagrams, Videos, Links, Pictures and anything else 
This Knicks fan is not happy about the lost to the Celtics. (H/T Barstool New York) 



Steve Nash having a good time at the Jay Z concert where they chanted 'Kobe' yet he needs to drink quicker.




Channing Frye announces Miles Plumlee has a new nickname. No word whether he still gels his hair.




Charlie. 

Friday, October 4, 2013

For the month of October, Mitch Pratt, Andrew Kasmarek and Charlie Tritschler will be previewing the NBA teams for the exciting 2013-2014 season. 


The Sacramento Kings are one of the most dysfunctional franchises in the NBA. I don't feel bad giving out titles like that because I am a diehard fan of the only team that might be more dysfunctional (over the last 25 years). However, the Kings now have new ownership with a group led by CEO of TIBCO (Bay Area software company), Vivek Ranadive, who took over after the team was nearly sold by the Maloof brothers to Chris Hansen (not this Chris Hansen) and moved off to Seattle. 

Now, they'll have new direction after getting a highly sought after head coach-to-be from Golden State in Mike Malone and after having rid of Tyreke Evans and locked up DeMarcus "Boogie" Cousins to a huge 4 year, $62 million contract to be the face of the franchise. It'll be nice to see the Kings have some stability after being at the brunt of relocation rumors for the the past two or three seasons.

The X-Factor: Rookie G Ben McLemore -  The Kings were lucky enough to have McLemore fall all the way to them (seventh overall) in the 2013 NBA Draft. McLemore could have very easily gone #1 overall, at least for a period of time last year. After he was rather impressive in Summer League, it'll be interesting to see if he can become a star right away in his first NBA season and start to form another piece to nice core in with Cousins.
Cousins, inked up and tatted.

The Big Question: Can Boogie Cousins put his past immaturity behind him? - I think it's pretty curious to reward a guy who could not get along with a lifeless Chucky Doll throughout his first few seasons in the NBA. The 23 year old clashed with former head coaches Paul Westphal and Keith Smart all throughout but maybe a new regime from top to bottom (and a nice pay day) will help him move forward and be the franchise player that all of us are waiting for him to be.

Key Additions: PG Greivis Vasquez, F Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, PF Carl Landry - Vasquez has been a pretty solid point guard in his career. He's much bigger than most PGs and plays with passion. Luc Richard is a former Buck that can't score consistently and his defense isn't really what it used to be but maybe another offseason to recover from his knee injury will help him get back.

Key Departures: G/F Tyreke Evans - The former Rookie of The Year pulled a Brandon Jennings and just never really improved all that greatly from his ROY campaign, even after going through what I like to call his NBA formative years (20,21,22). He's got a new situation and a new (albatross) contract in New Orleans to prove his worth.

Kings Draft: McLemore and G Ray McCallum - I've already discussed what McLemore might mean for the Kings but Ray McCallum could be a nice piece. Having seen him play a few times in person, I can say that he's more athletic than your average point man. He's got decent size and with his athleticism, I think his defense can will be NBA ready.

Prediction: I'll say 4th in the Pacific. I think they're better off than the Suns for this coming year but there still in a transitional phase so they most likely won't compete for the division crown. 

-Mitch


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