From one pizza guy to another pizza guy talking about a third pizza guy, Isaiah Thomas should give Derrick Rose a call. I think they’d have a lot to talk about.
(via Ananth Pandian)
Archive for the ‘Sacramento Kings’ Category
Video: Isaiah Thomas is a pizza guy
Posted by Trey Kerby under Food, Sacramento Kings, Score Video on Nov 07, 2012
The TBJ 2012-13 NBA season prediction countdown: 27-25
Posted by Scott Carefoot under 2012-13 NBA Previews, Cleveland Cavaliers, Phoenix Suns, Sacramento Kings on Oct 16, 2012
Join me as I count down my predictions of the regular season finishes for the 2012-13 NBA season, at a rate of three teams per day. Tell me why I’m wrong in the comments.
27. Phoenix Suns
In the first season of the post-Nash era, Suns GM Lon Babby is wisely stockpiling draft picks and trying to create cap flexibility so that they can return to being an annual contender, as they were from the mid- to late-2000s. This season should be a difficult one in Phoenix as Goran Dragic is a significant dropoff from Nash, no matter what you think of Dragic’s skills, and there’s little reason to believe the Suns won’t have a team defense in the bottom third of the league once again.
Free agent signee Michael Beasley figures to take over the role of alpha scorer on this team, claiming, “This is the first time I’ve really been encouraged to shoot even more than I already do, and we all know that I shoot a lot.” Yeah, we sure do, Beas. This will not turn out well.
26. Cleveland Cavaliers
The 2012-13 edition of the Cavaliers have the look of a team who could get off to a brutal start to the season. Kyrie Irving has been shooting poorly in preseason as he recovers from a broken hand, rookie shooting guard Dion Waiters has struggled so far, and eight of the players on their roster have no more than one season of NBA experience. Regardless, Irving is an All-Star talent and he’ll likely remind us of that fact by the end of the season.
Anderson Varejao’s return after missing 41 games with a wrist injury last season should bolster the Cavs’ interior defence, assuming the league’s new anti-flopping rule doesn’t significantly reduce his effectiveness. Depending on how the first half of this season goes, Varejao and the $17.3 million remaining on the final two years of his contract could go on the trading block as the Cavs are following a similar strategy to what the Suns are trying to do — banking future picks and clearing cap space for future potential acquisitions.
25. Sacramento Kings
There is no better example than the Sacramento Kings of how misleading traditional counting stats can be. We see a team with three players who each averaged over 16 points per game last season (Marcus Thornton, DeMarcus Cousins and Tyreke Evans), that was sixth in the NBA in points per game, and that plays a fast-paced, run-and-gun style — and some of us might think that they could turn into the new “Seven Seconds or Less” success story. Aside from the fact that current-day versions of Steve Nash, Amare Stoudemire and Shawn Marion in their primes are not walking through that door, there are other problems in Sactown.
Cousins seems to be a virtual lock to average 20 points and 10 rebounds per game this season, but those will be empty numbers if he can’t shoot closer to 50 percent from the field and if he doesn’t dedicate himself to becoming at least a decent defender. The Kings finished 29th in points allowed per 100 possessions last season, and Cousins will need to become more of a presence in the post if they’re going to significantly improve in that category. Meanwhile, Evans needs to shake his reputation as a shooting guard who can’t shoot — he made just 27.7 percent of his shot attempts from beyond five feet from the rim last season.
Previously in the countdown: 30-28
Next in the countdown: 24-22
Thomas Robinson plans on being very annoying
Posted by Trey Kerby under Sacramento Kings on Oct 15, 2012
No matter what they were like in college, it’s still pretty hard to figure out what kind of NBA player a rookie is going to be like. For instance, back in his DePaul days, Quentin Richardson was a tweener forward who averaged 10 rebounds a game. Now he’s a three-point specialist two guard who fights Paul Pierce all the time. Probably wouldn’t have guessed that back at the turn of the Willenium.
But these guys have to do what they can to get by, even if it means changing up their game like they would have never imagined. To those ends, Thomas Robinson of the Sacramento Kings has figured out what he’s going to make his trademark in the league. From Cowbell Kingdom:
“I think that’s my whole job – to annoy the other guy to the point that he just doesn’t want to check me no more,” the rookie forward said following practice.
He doesn’t get distracted when opposing players voice their frustration with his style of play. The Kansas forward says he just continues to play his game.
“It’s really not my job to care what they think or say,” Robinson said stoically. “That’s something they gotta deal with.”
Hey, being super annoying worked for Eddie House for a while. Joakim Noah and Anderson Varejao too. It’s weird to say, but being annoying is a legitimate skill in the NBA.
And not just on court either. If Thomas Robinson starts punctuating every dunk with “Did I do that?” and then hiking his shorts up, that’s a pretty solid branding approach. With nerd glasses being the go-to NBA accessory, really carving out a niche as THE annoying nerd of the league could be smart. If he’s going to be annoying on purpose, might as well make some money off it.
(via Sactown Royalty)
Brad Miller sends pictures of his kills to friends
Posted by Trey Kerby under Animals, Brad Miller, Sacramento Kings on Oct 09, 2012
When I first heard James Johnson was going to wear Brad Miller’s historic No. 52 for the Sacramento Kings, my first thought was “Ummmm…” since James Johnson is one of my all-time least favorite Bulls and Brad Miller is, as everyone on the internet knows, one of my all-time most favorite humans. Then, when Jimmy Johns came out saying he was wearing the ol’ 5-2 for Big Brad I completely changed my mind. Good for you, James Johnson. Way to be smart about number choices.
All that happened this summer though, which means training camp is the first time anyone has had a chance to ask Johnson about his relationship with the NBA’s premier camouflage ambassador. Cowbell Kingdom, a Kings blog, did just that and the answer was as perfect as you can imagine.
Johnson asked Miller for his blessing to wear 52. However, the 25-year-old forward hasn’t asked the former Kings big man, an avid outdoorsman, to take him hunting yet.
“He always sends me pictures,” said Johnson with a smile. “I heard he just got a 7-foot bear just the other day. So, I don’t know if I’m going that extreme. I don’t if I’m that extreme yet – maybe a couple ducks or squirrels (first).”
Imagine you are sitting there building a virtual Jurassic Park on your phone, when all of the sudden a text message from Brad Miller pops up at the top of the screen. You click over and there is Brad Miller, grinning widely while sitting next to a dead alligator or giant bear or some other creature that he just gunned down. That is legitimately James Johnson’s life and he seems pretty happy about it even though I think we can all agree that the first time you get sent a picture of a dead animal out of nowhere is probably a little strange.
That being said, if Brad Miller is sending you anything, it’s probably pictures of recent kills, so you might as well get used to it. Someone should let Nikola Pekovic know though, or else he’s in for quite the surprise.
Video: The best coaching of Vinny Del Negro’s career
Posted by Trey Kerby under Dunks, Sacramento Kings, Score Video on Aug 28, 2012
I heard something recently that I couldn’t believe was true — Vinny Del Negro taught Kenny Smith his famous between-the-legs, off-the-backboard dunk from the 1990 dunk contest. Sure, the particulars work out, like the fact that Vinny and Kenny were teammates from 1988 to 1990 and that Vinny could certainly throw down at that time. But VDN teaching something basketball-related so well did not compute with a Bulls fan who lived through him botching every timeout situation imaginable.
So I did what any 21st century human who is confronted with contradictory information would do: I Googled it. And lo and behold, the internet holds reference to such a legend. From the OUHoops.com forums from around the time Blake Griffin was in the dunk contest, with a little emphasis added to the pertinent portion of the passage:
I’m willing to wager that Blake will throw some variation of the “backwards between the legs foul line bounce pass off the glass” (hereafter abbreviated BBTLFLBPOTG) that he used to win the McD’s contest.
Blake threw the BBTLFLBPOTG down in 2007 as a tribute to Kenny Smith’s in the 1990 NBA Dunk Contest. Kenny being Blake’s ‘dunk coach’ for the competition, it seems a given that the BBTLFLBPOTG will make another appearance, hopefully in an absolutely bone smashing manner (360 tomahawk? Is it even possible to break an NBA backboard anymore?)
Further, take a guess at who taught Kenny Smith the BBTLFLBPOTG? If you guessed Vinny del Negro, you need a new hobby, but you’re right.
If it’s on the internet, it must be true. From here on out, never let it be said that Vinny Del Negro is a bad basketball coach. If he came up with this, he’s basically a combination of Phil Jackson, Vince Lombardi and Sidney Deane with a little Patti LaBelle mixed in for good measure. Maybe all these years of having to coach every part of the game has been holding VDN back and he just needs to focus on his true legacy, which is teaching fancy dunks for the dunk contest. I’m not sure what the market is like for full-time dunk coaches, but I’d think it’s something worth exploring.
Video: J.R. Smith stars in the most stereotypical streetball highlight possible
Posted by Trey Kerby under J.R. Smith, New York Knicks, Sacramento Kings, Score Video on Aug 15, 2012
NBA player playing against random dudes? Check. No defense? Check. Alley-oop to himself off the backboard? Check. Incomprehensible screaming from an amateur PA announcer? Super check. Fans flooding the court and shutting down the game? Check.
Basically, this is a scripted streetball scene from a movie. Obviously it really happened, which is funny because if you were going to describe one of these random summer games to a person who’s never seen one, you’d jokingly say something like, “Some NBA guys play in them and there’s no defense and guys are just throwing themselves oops off the backboard, then everybody goes crazy and runs on the court while some announcer is just yelling nonsense.” This is that, except really real. It’s the definition of summer league streetball.
Pretty decent 360 layup from Tyreke Evans at the end there too. Also seems like a setup for an And 1 mixtape shoot, but still pretty chill.
(via A Royal Pain)
The Kings might name their arena after a mattress store
Posted by Trey Kerby under Sacramento Kings on Aug 08, 2012
When you are an NBA ownership group who is broke because you decided to build a massive Las Vegas hotel immediately before the economic recession, you’ll take any sort of sponsorship deal you can get. I speak, of course, of the Sacramento Kings, who played basketball in an arena that was literally called Power Balance Pavilion for the entirety of last season. When you’re running out of money like the Maloofs are, you’ll even let a sham company that’s also going bankrupt put their name on your stadium, as long as they can pay the bills.
Of course, part of the whole “going bankrupt” thing is that they can’t pay the bills. That’s why the Kings are searching out a new naming rights deal. From the look of things, they’re gearing up for another hilarious sponsor. From the Sacramento Bee:
Power Balance Pavilion is likely to get renamed soon – and it could get named for the Sleep Train retail chain.
Sacramento Kings co-owner Joe Maloof said today the team is negotiating with several potential naming rights partners to replace Power Balance, the sports-wristband company that severed its contract with the team after filing for bankruptcy.
Maloof said he didn’t know the names of any of the potential partners. But Dale Carlsen, founder and chief executive of Sleep Train, said the Rocklin retailer has had talks with the team.
Carlsen said “I can’t say that we’re close to making a deal,” but his company views a naming-rights agreement as something of a community service.
Seriously, the Kings could possibly be playing in a place called something like the Sleep Train Mattress Center. For real. This would instantly become the funniest arena name in the league, maybe in its history, rivaled only by Golden State’s Cow Palace. Other teams are sponsored by airlines, major telecomm companies and banks. The Kings could be sponsored by a local mattress store.
But hey, if the Maloofs need money, we should help them out. Anything to keep the Kings in Sacramento. So with that in mind, here are some potential sponsorships the team could pursue that seem to be along the lines of companies they’ve been attracting.
- Jamba Juice Gym
- Mainway Toys presents the Bag O’ Glass Arena
- Spalding Sports Stadium
- Metamucial Coliseum
- Golden Coins Family Restaurant Basketball Court
- Lizzies’ Roadside Lemonade Stand Forum
- House of Angels Midtown Psychic Center
- Hydrex Pest Control Arena
- Lucky Buddy Pet Care Place
If they’ve got the money, the Kings are for the booking. The Maloofs will take anything, especially since it’s super hard to sell naming rights while you’re actively trying to leave the city. Heck, I’m sure if all of us raised enough money, we could convince them to call it The Basketball Jones Arena. Just something to think about when you’re making charitable donations at the end of the year. Feel free to add your terrible Kings arena names in the comments.
