Tue Jan 11, 2011 2:47 am
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Tue Jan 11, 2011 2:48 am
Tue Jan 11, 2011 2:48 am
Tue Jan 11, 2011 4:19 am
Tue Jan 11, 2011 7:20 am
Hello basketball lovers all around the world, and welcome to a completely new installment on espn.com, Around the League with John Hillock, where I, John Hillock, will take an analytic view at the most exciting events of NBA basketball.
It’s the night before the NBA tip-off of season 2010-2011, which looks like to be one of the most exciting in years. And how can it be not after the most exciting summer in NBA history, the summer of free agents, which resulted into big trio going to Miami, the decision, and consequences it caused after that, for example shirt burning in Cleveland, were just the few of events, that took place this summer. Many big time players changed their teams, and many stayed with their previous ones, but got a nice addition to their salary (see Joe Johnson). This was the summer, when teams, that weren’t in the elite got much stronger, like Miami Heat, Chicago Bulls, New York Knicks and elite teams added some depth to their great rosters, so we are in for a big battle for the NBA throne. And it starts tonight, on October 28, with 8 games.
First ones to enter the court this season will be Portland Trail Blazers, who will take on the Houston Rockets at home in a match-up between two injury prone teams. Yao Ming and Greg Oden are expected to play this game, but how long will it take for one of them to go down with an injury? This is an important season for both of them, in terms of which direction to take for the next couple of seasons, and the decision will be based on players’ health this year. What do I mean with that? I mean, that the Rockets will most probably go into rebuild mode if Yao can’t fully return from his injury, the same goes for Portland, who will be closely watching the health of Brandon Roy and Greg Oden this year.
Next, we go to Milwaukee, where local Bucks will play against Toronto Raptors. The Raptors are coming off the most disappointing departure of a player, well at least the most disappointing after Vince Carter. Chris Bosh went to Miami Heat to join James and Wade in chase for a NBA trophy, while Raptors has left with no real starts on a roster and hard times ahead. The Bucks on the other hand has gained some more power and now are expected to be one of the best teams in Central Division. Which one of them will take the first game? I’d say the Bucks.
Just half an hour after the start of Bucks-Raptors game, a game between Kings and Mavericks will start in Sacramento. This will be a match-up between two entirely different teams, with entirely different goals this season. While Mavericks and Dirk Nowitzki are trying to find a way to finally be on the NBA throne, the Sacramento Kings are on a rebuilding mode with budding stars DeMarcus Cousins and Tyreke Evans on their roster. The first exam for this young team will be very tough, possibly too tough for them to pass the first time.
At 8:00 pm ET time, whole 4 games will start, the most interesting of them at Amway Arena, in Orland between Orlando Magic and New York Knicks. Both teams have new looks this season, and both of them are eager to find out, how will the new players look on their rosters. How will Amare Stoudemire look without Steve Nash’s passes? How will Gilbert Arenas and Jameer Nelson decide, who will start at the point guard position? We will see some answers tonight, when these both teams meet.
And last, but not the least, at 9:00 pm Denver will host a game against Memphis Grizzlies, in which the young Grizzlies will try to take away the win from the Nuggets, who are in a puzzle of Carmelo Anthony’s possible departure this summer or earlier. Despite that this should be an interesting match-up.NBA Tip-off 2010-2011:
5:00 pm Houston Rockets @ Portland Trail Blazers
6:00 pm Toronto Raptors @ Milwaukee Bucks
6:30 pm Dallas Mavericks @ Sacramento Kings
8:00 pm Boston Celtics @ Indiana Pacers
8:00 pm Detroit Pistons @ Washington Wizards
8:00 pm New York Knicks @ Orlando Magic
8:00 pm Utah Jazz @ Phoenix Suns
9:00 pm Memphis Grizzlies @ Denver Nuggets
Tue Jan 11, 2011 7:22 am
Cleveland wins wrote:I'm looking forward to this, you always make good dynastys, sacramento!!! By the way How many free agents do you have this year?
Tue Jan 11, 2011 7:35 am
Tue Jan 11, 2011 12:23 pm
Tue Jan 11, 2011 5:40 pm
Tue Jan 11, 2011 8:32 pm
Sacramento losses to Mavericks in season opener
Kings 90-117 Mavericks
Tyreke Evans had a good game, but it wasn't enough for the Kings to grab a win.
-October 28- Mavericks have started the season in a style, beating the Kings in Sacramento by 27 points, 117-90. Dirk Nowitzki was the high point man in this game - he had 41 points and 9 boards. Sacramento’s best scorer tonight was Tyreke Evans, who had 32 points along with 6 assists. Rookie DeMarcus Cousins added 18 points and 8 boards in his first ever NBA game.
The first quarter of this game started pretty slow – it took almost 2 minutes for both teams to score a basket, until finally Nowitzki opened the score with a midrange jump shot. In the first quarter none of the teams got bigger advantage than 4 points, which was the margin between the teams after the first 12 minutes – plus 4 for Mavericks. It all changed in the second quarter, which was won by Dallas, 38-21.
“Second quarter was a real decider tonight,” after the game said head coach of Sacramento Kings Paul Westphal, “We played terrible defense this quarter and it killed any chances for us to win tonight.” Sacramento Kings really was playing bad defensively at the firs half as they let Mavericks score 61 points after 24 minutes of playing. Dirk Nowitzki was the best scorer at the half with 20 points.
It didn’t go any better for the Kings at the second half, yes, they showed some glimpse of a much better offense, scoring 30 points in the third, but it wasn’t much of a help because they let Dallas to 29 points margin in the third. The last quarter couldn’t change anything fundamentally and mavericks could celebrate their first win of the season.
“We played terrible defensively,” said one of bright spots in Sacramento’s play tonight, Tyreke Evans, “We worked much on defense this summer, and it’s coming together, just not yet.” It really isn’t, although there were some good things for the Kings too. They outrebounded the Mavericks 37 to 28, so now they only have to learn how to not let opponents shoot with such a high percent and try to make the open looks themselves, as Sacramento made only one of ten three-pointers in this game.
Next, the Kings continue to play at home, as they will host a match-up against the Houston Rockets on October 30th. All Sacramento fans hope, that this will be their first win of the season.
Dirk Nowitzki
41 points
9 rebounds
4 steals
5-5 3PM-A
T. Evans (SAC) 32pts 6ast 4reb
D. Cousins (SAC) 18pts 8reb 4ast 3stl 2blk
F. Garcia (SAC) 10pts 4ast
B. Udrih (SAC) 10pts
C. Butler (DAL) 27pts 9ast 3stl
S. Marion (DAL) 11pts
J. Terry (DAL) 11pts 4ast
J. Kidd (DAL) 8pts 4ast
Wed Jan 12, 2011 5:21 pm
Four game wrap up
Sacramento Kings has faced a really tough start of the 10/11 NBA season, as they haven’t won a single game yet, although they are 5 games into the season and all of these 5 games were played at home.
The closest they could get to a win was at the November 1 game home against the New Orleans Hornets, which ended with a tie scorer 92-92 after 48 minutes of playing. Unfortunately for Kings, the Hornets, led by David West, outscored their opponents in the extra time 14-4, which gave them the win.
And this was the only game they were decent from the three pointer territory making 7 of 15 shots behind the arc. In the other three games against Rockets, Celtics and Cavaliers they made just 5 shots out of 35 from the three point territory, which is just 14 percent.
Sacramento Kings stays at home for the next game against Orlando Magic, who stand at 1-3 on the standings right now. Will it be their first win of the season?Kings 83-101 Rockets
Kevin Martin
31 Points
3 Assists
12-12 FTM-A
T. Evans (SAC) 23pts 4ast 4reb
B. Udrih (SAC) 15pts 4ast 4reb
D. Cousins (SAC)10pts 9reb
E. Jeter (SAC) 7pts
A. Brooks (HOU) 19pts
C. Lee (HOU) 16pts 5stl 4reb
Y. Ming (HOU) 10pts 13reb
L. Scola (HOU) 5pts 9reb 4astKings 96-106 Hornets
David West
32 Points
10 Rebounds
9 Assists
9-10 FTM-A
O. Casspi (SAC) 26pts 4reb
T. Evans (SAC) 20pts 5ast 4reb 4stl
F. Garcia (SAC)15pts 5ast 4reb
D. Cousins (SAC) 4pts 12reb 2blk
C. Paul (NOH) 19pts 5stl
J. Jack (NOH) 15pts
T. Ariza (NOH) 15pts 4stl
E. Okafor (NOH) 5pts 7reb 5astKings 85-97 Celtics
Kevin Garnett
32 Points
18 Rebounds
4 BlocksKings 93-103 Cavaliers
Antawn Jamison
20 Points
11 Rebounds
9 Assists
2-2 3PM-A
T. Evans (SAC) 28pts 8ast
D. Cousins (SAC) 24pts 16reb 2blk
F. Garcia (SAC)9pts 6reb 6ast 4stl
C. Landry (SAC) 8pts 8reb
J. Moon (CLE) 20pts 7reb
C. Eyenga (CLE) 20pts 4reb
A. Parker (CLE) 14pts
A. Varejao (CLE) 8pts 11reb
Wed Jan 12, 2011 9:59 pm
Kings and Raptors agree on a trade
We’re only two weeks into the new NBA season and teams are already dealing with each other and sending players away. This Wednesday Sacramento Kings (0-5) and Toronto Raptors (1-4) agreed on a trade which will send Linas Kleiza, Peja Stojakovic and Solomon Alabi to Sacramento, and Samuel Dalembert, Hassan Whiteside and Donte Greene the other way - to Toronto. This means that Stojakovic will return to Sacramento, where he played during his best years in the NBA, from 1998 to 2006, when he was traded to Indiana.
Both teams hope, that this move will change their course of the season, which haven’t started very well for both teams. Kings were looking for a better three point shooting and they got exactly that in Kleiza and Stojakovic. And Raptors wanted to add some depth to their frontcourt, which they managed to do with this trade, as Dalembert will most probably start at center for the Raptors and if it doesn’t work out, this is the last year of Samuel’s 10 million contract, so they can just let him go in summer. The same goes for Kings, who now have the 15 million worth expiring contract in Stojakovic.Evans, Garcia thrilled about the move
Sacramento King’s young point guard and budding star Tyreke Evans seemed really happy and thrilled, when heard about the moves his team made. “I’m looking forward to play with them,” Evans said, “Especially Stojakovic, he was a real star here, I mean, he played here what 5 years ago? And people still remember him here. I’m really excited.”
And Evans isn’t the only one, who is excited. Kings’ captain Francisco Garcia remembers Stojakovic from his first days in the NBA. “When I entered the league, he already was a star here, he was like a role model for me,” says Garcia, “He also was a pretty decent guy. He showed me lot’s of things and drills in training sessions and some of them I use till this day.”
Unfortunately for Kings, not all of the players seem happy about this trade, for example, Omri Casspi, who most probably will now have to come off the bench right now, as rumored has said, that he doesn’t like this situation.Stojakovic says, he wants to retire as a King
“I’m really happy to be on the Kings roster again,” said Predrag “Peja” Stojakovic on a press conference regarded to Kings-Raptors trade, “I really like the city, I like the people here, I’ve spent my best years of my career here and I want to spend my last ones here too.” When asked if this means, that he wants to retire as a Sacramento King, Stojakovic said, “I really would (want to), I really would, but don’t get me wrong, I won’t quit playing after this season, so it’s up to Kings management and whether or not they want to sign me.”
Rumors swirling around the league that Stojakovic will start the games for the Kings at the small forward position, which means that Linas Kleiza will start at power forward, and Jason Thompson and Omri Casspi will have to come off the bench.
Wed Jan 12, 2011 10:09 pm
Wed Jan 12, 2011 10:12 pm
Wed Jan 12, 2011 10:27 pm
NLSCer's,
I've decided to include your virtual players in this dynasty, so you could be more involved in this. The idea is to include all of you in this year's draft class, but if more than 8 people signs up I may divide you into this year's draft and the next one. You'll all be somewhere between 70-75 overall as draftees, but you will have the opportunity to upgrade your player by participating into contests throughout this and next seasons. Good luck!
Here's the application form, send it to me via PM:Name:
Surname:
Birthdate:
Jersey number:
Primary Position:
Secondary Position:
School:
Height:
Weight:
Skin tone:
Appearance(tatoos, socks, sleeves and maybe a brief description of your overall appearance if you want):
5 Strengths and 5 weaknesses:
Your style of play(highflyer, playmaker, power, outside scorer, inside scorer, shooter, defensive specialist):
Background story (optional):
Anything else you want to add:
Wed Jan 12, 2011 10:28 pm
Valdis wrote:Ah, you traded Greene. 0-5
Wed Jan 12, 2011 10:43 pm
Wed Jan 12, 2011 10:52 pm
Thu Jan 13, 2011 3:01 am
Thu Jan 13, 2011 3:09 am
Thu Jan 13, 2011 3:20 am
Thu Jan 13, 2011 3:42 am
Thu Jan 13, 2011 4:08 am
Thu Jan 13, 2011 6:07 am
Thu Jan 13, 2011 6:37 am