What’s that, we’re playing the Sacramento Kings in the preseason opener tonight? Sounds like a perfect time for an interview with the fine folks from Sactown Royalty. We talk about putting Kenny Thomas on water skis, the underrated Kevin Martin, the Jason Thompson pick and what that mighty Kings fan base is like these days. Be sure to hit up their blog for all your Kings needs, since they pretty much have all that your are looking for. Thanks to them for taking the time, and SJ for being a shotcalling beast with the emails.
And now, the answers:
1. From an outsider’s perspective, what are your thoughts on the Blazers this year?
SR: The Blazers could finish as high as 7th. I don’t see them passing the Lakers, Suns, Hornets, Spurs, Jazz, Rockets or Mavs. They will be very entertaining, one of the better tickets for a season ticket holder to have when they come to town. Oden will compete for rookie of the year, but remember rookies alternately fill and break your heart. Roy is the cornerstone, but this could really be a break out year for Aldridge. The biggest thing that this team will have to battle are the expectations. The pub that the Blazers have received to this point is about a year ahead of schedule. They’re very good, but in a still stacked Western Conference. But man, is it going to be fun to be a Blazers fan (again) for the next several years. I love watching a “small market” flourish.
2. How do you see your matchup with them playing out? What part interests you the most? Any worries?
SR: The games should be competitive, but the Blazers are the better team. Oden will beat on Miller a little, but the wily old veteran will give the youngster some lessons along the way. Salmons will annoy Webster on defense more than most would think. As good as Roy is, Martin is better, but Roy will just be glad that he doesn’t have to deal with Artest anymore. Udrih and Blake is a toss up – it all depends on whether Beno takes his game to another level. The ugliness exists at the 4, where our only hope is that Aldridge slips on his own drool while looking at the match up against Moore/Thompson/Williams/Thomas. The Blazers have a deeper bench, but Francisco Garcia may be the best player off the bench, a potential 6th man of the year candidate. I’ll take MacMillan over Theus at this point. Advantage – Portland.
3. With all the hype surrounding this Blazer team, do you consider them to be “better” right now than the Kings?
The Blazers were three games better than the Kings last year, and the Kings dealt Artest. Simply, the Kings are a couple of years behind the Blazers on the rebuilding curve, which makes sense since the Blazers have had a longer playoff dry spell. Spencer Hawes, Jason Thompson and Donte Greene are all more projects than producers at this point. I do find humor in all of the “Pritch-Slap” stuff. The man inherited Roy, Aldridge and the number 1 pick, and he’s a genius? Don’t get me wrong, I think that he has done a great job. But can we wait until the Blazers make the playoffs (perhaps even the 2nd round) before we tab him a genius? That said, the Kings could be looking up at he Blazers for quite some time.
4. If you could grade the Kings’ off-season, what would you give it?
I’d give them an “B+” if I’m grading in the real world. They unloaded the volatile Artest and picked up a rookie prospect (Greene) and a future draft pick for him, which is better than the pick and expiring that Denver was offering at the deadline last year. They extended Garcia, which solidifies their bench (and perhaps makes Salmons expendable). Garcia is the ultimate teammate and glue guy, a great guy to have on your team. Udrih’s signing seemed a little pricey, but with the exodus of players to overseas teams he became more and more fair value as the summer progressed. The Jason Thompson pick surprised everyone, but Geoff Petrie has done this time and time again, so he gets the benefit of the doubt. The quiet jewel may be point guard Bobby Brown, who has impressed in summer league and at camp. Shareef Abdur-Rahim’s injury retirement will add some cap relief. All things considered, I’m not sure that the Kings could have accomplished much more this off season .
5. What excites you most about the Kings in this upcoming season?
The youth (sound familiar, Blazer fans?). Spencer Hawes, Thompson, Greene, Brown, Shelden Williams – some of these guys are going to develop into nice players. It’s going to be fun to watch and…oh hell – what am I most excited about? Kevin Martin, Kevin Martin, Kevin Martin. Dude should go off this year. Great guy, hard worker, and does some amazing things off contact.
6. Realistically, where would you put the Kings ceiling, high and low?
As high as #9 (behind the seven mentioned above and Denver), as low as #12 (ahead of Memphis, Minnesota and OKC).
7. Looking at the team from all angles, what is the one thing that worries y
ou about the Kings?
That they will compete enough that he veterans continue to get minutes over the youngsters. The future of this team is not Brad Miller and Mikki Moore, but we will get large doses of them as long as the team is in the playoff hunt. The general consensus here is let’s bite the bullet and play the kids, even if that means that we will really stink in the short term.
8. If you were able to be GM and could only make one move, what would it be?
Give Kenny Thomas skis, watercraft, a motorcycle, sky diving lessons, firearms, liquor, weed and hookers. Whatever it takes to get him and his bloated contract off our roster.
9. What is the key to the Kings success this year?
Watching Kevin Martin mature as “the man” while the youth around him develops.
9 (b). Any sleepers we should look out for?
I mentioned Bobby Brown above. As soon as Bobby Jackson gets hurt (and that will happen) Brown will step into the back up role, and if Beno Udrih stumbles at all Brown could pick up some burn. Statistically, watch out for John Salmons. The man flat filled it up as a starter last year (he flat sucked off the bench). As the starting 3 this year, he could surprise.
10. How do you feel about Reggie Theus as head coach?
I thought that Reggie did a good job as a rookie coach. His team sure played its collective arse off last year, from start to finish. Theus does love the sound of his own voice a little too much, but he seems a lot more polished this year. He is passionate about coaching, and I don’t know if there are NBA coaches that could have extracted 38 wins from last year’s injury riddled club.
Bonus question #1: Having gone through this a couple years back, what’s the transition been like going from a contender to a somewhat pretender?
There has been a thinning of the herd, but the fans that remember Joe Kleine have remained. The most frustrating thing is what might have been. A made free throw or a better officiated game in 2002 and we hang a c
hampionship banner. If Webber doesn’t blow out his knee maybe we hang one or two more. Sigh.
Bonus question #2: How do you feel about the Jason Thompson pick? We giggled like schoolgirls but maybe you could ‘talk us down’ from that opinion?
The Warriors were eyeing him at #14, so the Kings had to take him at #12 if they really wanted him. Of course, we were getting pumped to the nads as Bayless dropped. I can’t imagine what would have happened had Bayless fallen to us and we had still selected Thompson. After all of that is said, he’s a great kid, a hard worker and a bit of a freak – a 6-11 250 lb. big man that can handle the basketball. He may be skilled enough to log some time at the 3 by the time it’s said and done – potentially scary.