TND West

An impact player, an impact player, my King-dom for an impact player! Coming off the worst season in twenty-one years, the woeful Sacramento Kings have not had that one clutch player since trading the likes of Ron Artest and Mike Bibby. While Arco Arena fans once had a reputation for being the loudest and most loyal pro basketball fans in the NBA, the past few seasons have seen this trend drop too as the consecutive sellout record came to an end sometime between the Artest trade and former Coach Eric Musselman’s DUI. Artest is probably the best defensive player they have had since Doug Christie on a team that has never been known for quality defense. Although Kevin Martin is a proven scoring machine, he has been prone to injury his last two seasons leaving uncertainty at the shooting guard position. Other than Martin, there isn’t a player on this year’s squad with name recognition across the other NBA cities in the country. The Kings are currently pinning hopes on several young players to have breakout seasons. Among these is third year player, Spencer Hawes, who following the Brad Miller trade to the Bulls last season is now the starting center for the Kings. Additionally, the Kings hope second year forward, Jason Thompson emerges with consistent play on both sides of the court. Lastly, given last year’s injury ridden and disappointing season from Point Guard Beno Udrih, fans are looking for first round draft pick, Tyreke Evans to make a quick splash into the league and to take over the offense for Udrih as the new starting Point Guard.

Much of the focus over the past three seasons had been written about coaching turnover and an ownership team in the Maloof Family who has yet to acquire a deal for a new arena to keep the team in Sacramento. While these are legitimate points of concern for the Kings organization and for NBA basketball in Sacramento, the team’s losing record has little to do with the coach or the court. Rick Adelman was the winningest coach in Sacramento Kings history because of the number of impact players he was fortunate to coach in Sacramento. Vlade Divac, Chris Webber, Doug Christie, and Peja Stojokovic were a formidable match for any team. It remains to be seen after a year or two together whether or not Hawes, Martin, Thompson, and Evans will have what it takes to lift the team back into the realm of playoff contenders. If they can achieve this milestone, it might be likely that Sacramento sports fans will reign again as the loudest and most loyal in the not only the NBA, but also the Sacramento area by purchasing sports tickets that neither bear the name of Monarchs nor River Cats.

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