Why are they starting Sean May and Mason? Seriously? Everyone knows Hawes is the future, and Mason is ancient and one-dimensional. Are they tanking it already or what? Trying to get boo'ed out of town? Has anyone seen the old movie "Major League"?

Forget about their high-priced talent because they are just high-priced

pretty sure they're tanking the whole season

supposedly, it's because they don't want to be without both Thompson and Hawes at any given time, and they run that risk if both start because they could both get into foul trouble. i don't buy it, but that's what i read before the season.

the thread's emoticon pretty much says it all

Yea, I drafted Thompson in the late rounds, and the dude can't get out of the 1st Qtr of any game without 2 fouls......man o man

at least you got him in the late rounds...he was my 6th round pick in a 16-teamer...

I agree. Too much money tied up in mediocre talent.

28M in contracts for Kenny Thomas, Francisco Garcia, Andres Nocioni and Beno Udrich. I realize they didn't sign Nocioni to that terrible deal, Chicago did, but they took it on. The Garcia and Udrich contracts are head scratchers.

i don't think they realize it's a lottery in the nba. watch them get the 6th pick.

Are they seriously gonna just watch kevin martin take every shot? I hate them. Can't believe I drafted evans.

evans will be good. but i think it won't show for fantasy until the second half of this year. in two or three years, he will be a top pick.

its def working i mean kevin martin has 36 pts on 60+% shooting lol

When Sean May is in they are -11

When Spencer Hawes is in they are +6

I think Hawes is finally stealing away the clear majority of playing time from May. Hawes is far better as well as younger, why not let him develop into a 18/10 1 block, 1 steal guy?

because that makes sense

Evans has no value atm


unbelievable

I think I'm going to stick it out a little longer. Martin is going to shut it down at some point. I think Evans can't get it going because he's not touching the ball.

Call me crazy but I think both Hawes and Casspi should start if they ever intend to start their best 5.

Call you crazy? I just gave you the head coaching job.

Sweet, my first order of business is to make you GM, assistant coach, or Supervisor of Cheerleaders - your choice.

Udrih playing like a man possessed

is thompson dropable ?

btw

this game has been ******* great

I'll take D - Owner, and then move the team to Seattle. Just kidding Kings fans. I am totally just kidding. (takes foot out of hornets nest, slowly)...

He is hurt right now. Only suited up because it was the home opener and shouldn't have been out there.

BTW- Not sure if anyone posted this, or noticed but Omri Casspi and Hawes started the second half. Mason never came in after halftime and Mays only played a minute or two when Thompson was in foul trouble.

You don't usually see a coach change his starting lineup at half unless it is permanent.

Casspi starting would be very intriguing as he is on like 98% of the waiver wires out there.

Hawes should be starting. Hopefully he is out of the doghouse after the last two games.

Exactly.

This isn't the first time Westphal started a new group for the second half. I'm guessing it won't be the last. Westphal seems like the type of coach who plays matchups and who isn't shy about switching players around.



After the Spurs game (Saturday) a reporter asked Westphal why Spencer was one of the only Kings to have a decent game. Westphal paused for seriously five seconds and just said, 'Did he have a good game?' It definitely gave the impression that Westphal doesn't think very highly of Hawes. It was...odd. Westphal's not an easy guy to read. I'm not sure how long it will take Spencer to crack that starting lineup.

Well, May and Desmond are black holes. They have no business starting, period.

Tonight, Westphal called a timeout to get Spencer off the floor for a standing O. It was obvious that Spencer was a game changer tonight. They were down by 14 when he came in and he was energy off the bench and played well. Even Westphal can only go so long before acknowledging the obvious. In the SA game, Hawes blew several defensive assignments, so they weren't all that impressed by the offense since he was giving it back at the other end. It's likely the stuff that doesn't show in the box, but really what the coaches are watching for. Well tonight, he played both ends. Even if he doesn't start over May, then maybe even start him over Thompson that can't seem to stop fouling and has looked absolutely lost out there.

Maybe it's Spence's politics.

Extremely doubtful. Westphal is very close friends with Rush Limbaugh.

... and we're puzzled about his questionable judgment elsewhere??

Westphal was done as NBA coach 10 years ago, i can't believe the Kings hired him


wonder who will be next coming from the grave.......Carlesimo ?

It's being reported that tonight's lineup will have Hawes at center and Nocioni starting at the three. Sounds like the May/Desmond reclamation projects are over. Thank God.

Link pls. If that's true Im running to pick Nocioni up.

Thank god.

any news on Evans ?

Finally. Now hopefully Casspi becomes a starter soon as well.

if Nocioni starts, Casspi can't start

I bet big on Nocioni coming into the season, so obviously I'm interested in this situation. Seems like there aren't enough minutes at SG for both of these guys... can either of them play another position? I know Nocioni played some PF in Chicago once upon a time...what about Casspi?

Could you tell us where you heard this from?

If I say it, take me at my word. Can't really link twitter or people that send me info sometimes.

I can be my own link in some cases.

BTW- I write the Kings blog that is linked up on the front page: Top right hand corner.

Now go pick up Nocioni if he is on your waiver and keep a close eye on Casspi. He is going to get major time as well.

I have to ask, if Desmond Mason was getting 15 minutes a game, how could both Casspi and Nocioni possibly get "major time," even if Mason were to be benched completely? Both guys are averaging 21 minutes per game.

That is one reason that Garcia was going to start and Noc on the bench originally. Nocioni was going to sub at the 3 AND the 4. Now he is starting at the three. Casspi can still come in though at the 3 and Nocioni can slide to the 4 if they go uptempo, something you will see when Udrih comes into the game.

Casspi needs more work on his handle, but he is a very athletic guy. I could definately see him as more of a 2-3 and somebody needs to give Martin a break. Martin played over 52 minutes the other night with the overtime and only sat for like 20 seconds. They can't do that to him every game. Look for Casspi to spell him there, or you may see Udrih come in to man the 1 with Evans sliding to 2 to spell Martin.

I don't expect Mason to get that much more time. Casspi is going to force his way on to the court. Nocioni will start, but Casspi is going to take time from him at the 3.

I don't understand your question I guess Mark. Both Nocioni and Casspi will see an increase in time now if Noc is starting. I think Mason will be the odd one out.

Plus, as I said in the other post, Nocioni can sub at the four and Casspi may be able to sub at the two. Sure, they are both avg. 21 a game so far, but can they continue to play Martin 48 a game?

Yeah, my feeling is that Casspi and Nocioni will limit each other's value. They're very similar. Nocioni is better now, but Casspi is a young guy with great potential and the Kings are rebuilding. I think they'll both get time, but not enough to be consistent for fantasy.

The guys I'd want to own on the Kings are Evans, Martin, and Hawes.

Well to me "major minutes" is like 30 a game. Even if you bench Mason completely and split his minutes between Noc/Casspi, you only get to 28 per game.

Although I guess 28 per game is pretty good compared to 21.

I don't understand why people think Nocioni is anything close to valuable in fantasy. He was barely rosterable when he started with the Bulls in the past, just because he's starting for the Kings doesn't mean he's going to help your fantasy team out.

If you're in a 12-20 team league, I can understand it, but Nocioni is not going to be much of a net positive to your team in a vast majority of leagues. He'll help you with some 3's and sprinkle in some points and rebounds, but best case scenario, he's probably a 0.00 in terms of value on ESPN Player Rater or BBM.

Aren't the majority of leagues 12-20 teams?

Anyway, I drafted him around pick 140 in a scoring-emphasized league, and a similar pick in a 12 team 9-cat roto league. I was expecting big minutes and some scoring, but I wasn't counting on the Mossad sleeper agent.

"Andres Nocioni, who was named the Kings' new starting small forward on Wednesday, was arrested by Sacramento Police and booked into Sacramento County Jail early Thursday morning on suspicion of driving under the influence.

It's hard to say what kind of disciplinary action this will bring from the Kings or the NBA, while it's also hard to tell if this will effect his new job as the team's starting forward. We should have more information later on Thursday, although the Kings don't play until Saturday at Utah."

Great

huh ?

last year as starter
14.7 ppg
46.5 fg%
75.0 ft%
43.5 3pt%
7.1 rbds
1.8 asts
0.6 stls
0.8 blks
1.7 tos

Good way for him to celebrate securing the starting job.

He's just upset that they lost...

Honestly I think he and Casspi will trade off nights being fantasy relevant. Some games they will get blown out and the bench guys will get garbage time, some games Casspi will be hot and he'll just stay in the game. These guys are very similar and they'll want to develop Omri.