Phoenix Suns vs. Sacramento Kings Game Preview: Get Smart

by East Bay Ray on Feb 11, 2012 3:59 PM MST

The Sacramento Kings haven't had a winning season since 2005-06, when their team featured Mike Bibby, Peja Stojakovic and Ron Artest (AKA Metta World Whatever). This year's edition doesn't figure to reach .500 either, but the Kings do have some quality young talent in Tyreke Evans, DeMarcus Cousins and Isaiah Thomas, and have won 4 of their last 5 games, including a 106-101 win over the Thunder on Thursday night. They sit at 10-16 going into tonight's game against the Suns in Sacramento.

Thursday night wasn't as good for the Suns, as they dropped a winnable game to the Rockets and played their starters a lot of minutes in the process due to woeful bench play. If the game against the Rockets was a measuring stick to see how far the Suns can rise, this game could be seen as a measuring stick for how far they can fall. Last season, the Kings beat the Suns in 3 of their 4 meetings despite the fact that, let's be honest here, the Kings had a terrible team.

This year's version of the Kings looks to be slightly improved, as Evans and Cousins gain more experience and they're adjusting to new head coach Keith Smart, promoted from assistant after a 2-5 start and a near-mutiny under former Suns player and coach Paul Westphal.

It's tempting to look at this game on the schedule and think the Suns "should" win, but these are fairly evenly matched teams.

Read on for more........

Is DeMarcus Cousins an emerging franchise big man or a selfish coach killer? The answer to that question is the key to the Kings hopes for the future. The #5 overall pick in the 2010 draft was suspended by former coach Paul Westphal for being, according to Westphal, "unwilling/unable to embrace traveling in the same direction as his team; it cannot be ignored indefinitely." Four days later, Westphal was fired, as the Kings decided it was easier to replace a middling head coach than a 21-year old tremendously athletic (almost) 7-footer.

Cousins is a rebounding monster at 11.4 per game, 4.3 of them offensive rebounds. Marcin Gortat and Channing Frye will have their hands full, and Robin Lopez will have to see more action than he did Thursday when he sat out the entire second half. The good news is that the rest of the Kings bigs, Jason Thompson, J.J. Hickson and Chuck Hayes, are nothing special, and they're not an effective rebounding team overall.

On the offensive end for the Kings, Cousins, Tyreke Evans and Marcus Thornton figure to carry the load. Thornton isn't shy about hoisting 3-pointers, taking over 6 of them a game. He hit two huge 3s late in their game against the Thunder to help seal the deal. Hey Suns, please do NOT leave him alone in the corner!

			FG			3PT			FT			Rebounds			Misc
	G	M	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	Off	Def	Tot	Ast	TO	Stl	Blk	PF	PPG
Tyreke Evans	26	36.5	6.3	15.2	41.5	0.5	2.3	23.3	4.2	5.5	76.9	1.1	3.8	5.0	5.1	3.0	1.6	0.4	2.3	17.4
Marcus Thornton	19	35.4	5.9	15.2	39.2	2.1	6.2	33.9	3.2	3.7	85.9	1.3	2.2	3.4	2.0	2.2	1.4	0.2	2.5	17.2
DeMarcus Cousins	25	29.2	5.8	13.0	44.6	0.0	0.1	0.0	3.8	5.3	72.7	4.3	7.1	11.4	0.8	2.7	1.1	1.4	4.2	15.4
Jimmer Fredette	24	21.9	3.0	8.0	37.8	1.5	3.8	39.6	0.9	1.0	88.0	0.5	0.8	1.3	2.0	1.4	0.7	0.0	1.2	8.5
Jason Thompson	26	22.6	3.4	6.2	54.9	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.3	2.4	54.0	2.3	3.4	5.8	0.9	1.0	0.5	0.4	2.0	8.2
John Salmons	25	29.4	3.1	8.4	36.8	0.8	2.9	28.8	0.6	1.0	66.7	0.4	3.0	3.4	1.9	1.0	1.0	0.2	1.8	7.6
Isaiah Thomas	25	17.0	2.2	6.0	37.6	0.9	2.8	33.3	1.6	1.9	83.0	0.5	1.2	1.7	2.4	1.2	0.6	0.1	1.3	7.0
J.J. Hickson	26	20.5	2.2	5.6	39.3	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.3	2.1	63.0	2.2	3.4	5.6	0.5	1.4	0.5	0.5	1.4	5.7
Donte Greene	20	13.9	2.1	5.1	40.6	0.5	2.2	20.9	1.1	1.4	78.6	0.4	2.3	2.7	0.7	0.6	0.4	0.4	1.3	5.7
Chuck Hayes	15	22.7	1.7	4.3	38.5	0.0	0.1	0.0	0.7	1.0	66.7	2.1	4.1	6.1	1.2	0.9	0.7	0.3	2.5	4.0
Francisco Garcia	20	14.4	1.3	3.8	33.3	0.6	2.2	27.3	0.8	1.0	75.0	0.2	1.4	1.6	0.6	0.5	0.7	0.5	1.0	3.9
Travis Outlaw	18	10.7	1.0	3.9	25.7	0.2	1.3	12.5	0.8	1.2	63.6	0.4	0.9	1.4	0.1	0.4	0.3	0.3	0.7	2.9
Tyler Honeycutt	3	2.3	0.3	0.7	50.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.7	1.0	66.7	0.3	0.3	0.7	0.0	0.0	0.7	0.0	0.0	1.3

For the Suns, the obvious area for improvement is bench play after their train wreck of an effort Thursday. Michael Redd is becoming a solid contributor, a welcome addition to a team in frequent need of an offensive boost. But Sebastian Telfair, Josh Childress, Markieff Morris and Robin Lopez have been far from dependable.

How long before Alvin Gentry goes back to Ronnie Price at backup PG? Or gives Zabian Dowdell a call? Or maybe tries to coax Frank Johnson or Elliot Perry out of retirement? I'm open for any of these possibilities because watching Telfair makes my head hurt.

Channing Frye looks to finally be coming around as he's scored 19, 14 and 21 in the last three games, but his 3-point % is still only at 31%, well below his career average of 39%. If Frye would like to go on a tear right about now, that would give the Suns a huge lift. Some of the team's problems were to be expected, Frye's poor shooting was not.

The Suns are currently #12 in the West, while the Kings are #14. A loss would drop the Suns to #13 so, let's try not to lose, huh?

Next Game

Phoenix Suns
@ Sacramento Kings

Saturday, Feb 11, 2012, 8:00 PM MST
Power Balance Pavilion

Complete Coverage >

Notes

Ailene Voisin of the Sacramento Bee is duly impressed by Steve Nash.
Sacramento mayor and former Suns great Kevin Johnson continues to work to keep the Kings in Sacramento.
Paul Coro breaks down the Suns struggles in the 2nd quarters of games so far this season.
Keith Smart is the current head coach of the Kings and former head coach of the Warriors. But I'll always remember him for this game-winning shot in the 1987 NCAA Tournament championship. Wearing #23, he looked a little like another #23 at that moment.

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Comments

Enjoy the game, everybody. I won't get to see it.

Wil’s going to take care of all your game thread and recap needs. I hear that if you’re really nice to him, he might allow you to adopt the 11-year old cat his special lady friend dumped on him.

Blogging Suns basketball for Bright Side of the Sun from California wine country.
Twitter: @EastBayRaymundo

by East Bay Ray on Feb 11, 2012 4:04 PM MST reply actions

Boy did Indiana dodge a bullet by not picking Alford over Miller

Master of the Universe

by KD1 on Feb 11, 2012 4:12 PM MST reply actions

lol yea i watched that espn 30 forn 30 on reggie miller

the fans were so pissed that the didnt draft the hometown guy(and there might have been some racial angst as well) but miller put the pacers on the map. awesome player

"Clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose"

by phxpurple on Feb 11, 2012 5:35 PM MST up reply actions

10,000 Internet points to anyone who can name the 3rd Suns “legend” in the back there behind Joe Proski and Alvan Adams WITHOUT enlarging the picture to read his name.
https://twitter.com/#!/SunsCommunity/status/168445341052567552/photo/1

BAMF goes HAM.

by brian13 on Feb 11, 2012 4:20 PM MST reply actions

https://twitter.com/#!/SunsCommunity/status/168445341052567552/photo/1

BAMF goes HAM.

by brian13 on Feb 11, 2012 4:20 PM MST up reply actions

What the....?

I think I have pretty good cred as a hardcore Suns fan, and I have no idea who that guy is.

Blogging Suns basketball for Bright Side of the Sun from California wine country.
Twitter: @EastBayRaymundo

by East Bay Ray on Feb 11, 2012 4:24 PM MST up reply actions

Yeah… I had no idea either. That’s why I decided 10,000 pts would be appropriate.

BAMF goes HAM.

by brian13 on Feb 11, 2012 6:49 PM MST up reply actions

Well, the way this Creighton game is going the Suns should win easily.

Go Suns, Packers, Jays, and Huskers!

Read my thoughts on Creighton University athletics at Creightonian.com

I also edit things at Ridiculous Upside. Check it out.

by Omaha Sun on Feb 11, 2012 4:26 PM MST reply actions

Arizona won today

and it seems like the Suns and Wildcats can never win on the same day, so…

by wedge1039 on Feb 11, 2012 5:38 PM MST up reply actions

The good news is that the rest of the Kings bigs, Jason Thompson, J.J. Hickson and Chuck Hayes, are nothing special, and they’re not an effective rebounding team overall.

I have to disagree with this statement. Since becoming a starter Jason Thompson regularly puts up double-doubles. Hayes isn’t a stat-filler but he does his job. He is a tough defender, good rebounder, and is constantly making those hustle plays which just kill the opposing team. JJ Hickson’s problem is lack of playing time and being on a team full of high-usage shoot-first guys in Evans, Thorton, Cousins, Salmons, and Freddette. He put up pretty impressive numbers last year on a bad Cavs team averaging 13.8/8.7. If the dude was a starter on any other team he would putting up 15/10 every night.

Dear Bill,
Fuck You.
-Charles

Letter that Charles Barkley sent to Bill Lambieer through a ballboy during the 89-90 season....Moments later, Barkley and Lambieer got into a fist fight.

by TheRza82 on Feb 11, 2012 5:56 PM MST reply actions

I would love to have J.J Hickson here

We reached WCF that year, but i would have make the trade for J.J Hickson for Stoudmire

roses are red violets are blue, Michael Redd is coming for you!

by Lino Canaan on Feb 11, 2012 7:53 PM MST up reply actions

I was watching the Thunder and Kings game

and when they’re in a zone, they’re in a zone…so let’s not let them get in the zone m’kay Gentry?

Also, I just found out Chicago has Charlotte’s first round pick this year and the Bobcats are the worst team right now….if they’re lucky during the lottery they might stay at number 1.

Twitter: @FredLegittt

by modernage13 on Feb 11, 2012 6:01 PM MST reply actions

That pick is top 14 protected.

It was only called the mildly irritated house on McDowell until I showed up.

by Jim Coughenour on Feb 11, 2012 6:13 PM MST up reply actions

This is gonna be a good game

Interested to watch Gortat, Lopez, Frye, Kieff against Cousins, Thompson, Hickson. It’s gonna be a battle and I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say Lopez gets in a scuffle with Cousins.

Hill and Dudz need to keep Thornton and Tyreke in check and knock down their open shots Nash gets them. Our bigs need to stay aggressive and bang the boards with the Kings. I really want to see Frye build off the last game. He needs to step up and show why we signed him to a pretty nice contract.

by SmokinKieff on Feb 11, 2012 7:06 PM MST via mobile reply actions

OT: Whitney Houston died :(

Steve Nash, the league's MVP, is a longhaired Canadian who spoke out against the war in Iraq and reads The Communist Manifesto. Quentin Richardson declared after a game-winning shot that it "was like Hamlet. It was a suspense thriller, and I killed them at the end." Amare Stoudemire, when asked to comment on a 22-point third quarter against the Kings, said, "I've got a tendency to jump over some guys' heads and throw it down."

by rsavaj on Feb 11, 2012 7:16 PM MST reply actions

i really don't wanna get beaten by boogie cousins tonight.

::sigh::

Just remember what ol' Jack Burton does when the earth quakes, and the poison arrows fall from the sky, and the pillars of Heaven shake. Yeah, Jack Burton just looks that big ol' storm right square in the eye and he says, "Give me your best shot, pal. I can take it."

~Jack Burton, "Big Trouble in Little China"

by u_must_chill on Feb 11, 2012 7:32 PM MST reply actions