Spurs vs. Kings Previews

[duncan228]

Saturday: Kings (0-2) at Spurs (1-1) (http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/spurs/Saturday_Kings_0-2_at_Spurs_1-1.html)

Time: 7:30 p.m.
TV: KMYS
Radio: WOAI-AM 1200, KCOR-AM 1350

STARTING LINEUPS
POS - SPURS -- KINGS

PG - 9 Tony Parker (6-2, 9th yr) -- 13 Tyreke Evans (6-6, 1st yr)
Another opponent, another precocious point guard from Memphis.

SG - 4 Michael Finley (6-7, 15th yr) -- 24 Desmond Mason (6-5, 10th yr)
Finley slayed Kings with buzzer beater in final meeting last season.

SF - 24, Richard Jefferson (6-7, 9th yr) -- 23 Kevin Martin (6-7, 6th yr)
Rough start for RJ: He’s 4 of 16 from field in two games with Spurs.

PF - 21 Tim Duncan (6-11, 13th yr) -- 42 Sean May (6-9, 4th yr)
Duncan was lone warrior for Spurs vs. Bulls: 28 points, 16 rebounds.

C - 15 Matt Bonner (6-10, 6th yr) -- 34 Jason Thompson (6-11, 2nd yr)
Undersized Kings should present better defensive matchup for Bonner.

SPURS RESERVES

8 Roger Mason Jr., G, 6-5, 6th yr
20 Manu Ginobili, G, 6-6, 8th yr
3 George Hill, G, 6-2, 2nd yr
24 A. McDyess, C/F, 6-10, 15th yr
45 DeJuan Blair, F, 6-7, 1st yr
10 Keith Bogans, G/F, 6-5, 7th yr
42 Theo Ratliff, F/C, 6-10, 15th yr

KINGS RESERVES

40 John Brockman, F, 6-7, 1st yr
18 Omri Casspi, F, 6-9, 1st yr
20 Donte Green, F, 6-10, 2nd yr
31 Spencer Hawes, C, 7-1, 3rd yr
5 Andres Nocioni, F, 6-7, 6th yr
10 Sergio Rodriguez, G, 6-3, 4th yr
19 Beno Udrih, G, 6-3, 6th yr

COACHES
Spurs: Gregg Popovich
Kings: Paul Westphal

INJURIES

Spurs: None
Kings: Francisco Garcia (fractured left forearm) and Kenny Thomas (flu-like symptoms) are out

PROJECTED INACTIVE PLAYERS

Spurs: Ian Mahinmi, Malik Hairston, Marcus Haislip
Kings: Garcia, Thomas

NOTABLE

Spurs get what doctor ordered after fizzling in Chicago: A visit from the moribund Kings, playing for the second time in as many nights. ... Kings have gone up-tempo under new coach Westphal, with the transition still a work in progress. ... Big question for Spurs is which shooters show up, the ones who shout 52.3 percent in opener vs. New Orleans, or the ones who clanked all but 42.3 percent vs. Bulls.

— Jeff McDonald

[duncan228]

Sacramento (0-2) at San Antonio (1-1) (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/preview?gid=2009103124&prov=ap)
Game info: 8:30 pm EDT Sat Oct 31, 2009
TV: CSCA, My35
By Matt Becker

With a lineup featuring Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili and Richard Jefferson, the San Antonio Spurs boast one of most talented teams in the NBA. It hardly showed last time out, though.

The Spurs look to bounce back from a disappointing effort Saturday night when they host the Sacramento Kings, who are coming off a tough loss.

There was a time when Duncan could practically carry San Antonio by himself, but for the Spurs (1-1) to be successful and contend for a title these days, the veteran star needs some support from his teammates.

That shouldn’t be a problem with Parker running the offense, Jefferson handling a share of the scoring and Ginobili providing a spark off the bench, but those three didn’t do much to help Duncan in Thursday’s 92-85 loss to Chicago.

An 11-time All-Star and two-time MVP, Duncan finished with 28 points on 13 of 19 shooting and also grabbed 16 rebounds. The rest of the team, though, shot 33.9 percent (20 of 59) and had 28 boards.

Ginobili scored 12 points but was just 3 for 11 while Parker, who left Wednesday’s season-opening 113-96 win over New Orleans following a hard fall in the third quarter, had eight points on 4 of 11 shooting and three assists.

Jefferson, a proven scorer acquired from Milwaukee in the offseason, had another rough game with his new team. After going 1 for 7 from the floor for five points versus the Hornets, he was 3 for 9 for nine points against the Bulls.

“Just one of those nights we couldn’t make a shot, and on top of that, (the Bulls) brought a lot of energy to the table,” Duncan said.

The Spurs hope to get things turned around against a Kings team they’ve had little trouble beating lately. San Antonio has won five straight and 10 of the last 11 meetings.

The Kings (0-2), who will close out a three-game road trip before Monday’s home opener against Memphis, arrive in San Antonio following Friday’s 97-92 loss at New Orleans.

Trailing 95-92, Sacramento had a chance to tie the game, but Kevin Martin’s 3-point attempt was blocked by Emeka Okafor with 3 seconds left.

Although the Kings fell to 6-37 on the road since the start of last season, new coach Paul Westphal was pleased by the effort from a team that won an NBA-low 17 games in 2008-09.

“I’m very proud of them,” Westphal said. “They proved they can compete. It’s the little things we need to learn as a team. … We were in position to win the game. They closed the deal and we didn’t.”

Martin finished with 20 points Friday but made just 9 of 29 shots and is shooting 29.2 percent through two games.

He averaged 24.6 points last season, but also missed 31 games—including all three against the Spurs—due to ankle injuries.

Team Stat Leaders

Points
Kevin Martin Sac 27.0
Tim Duncan SA 18.5

Rebounds
Jason Thompson Sac 9.0
Tim Duncan SA 14.0

Assists
Kevin Martin Sac 4.0
Tony Parker SA 4.5

[Manu20]

I have a feeling that this will be RJ's breakout game.:toast

[redzero]

I have a feeling that this will be RJ's breakout game.:toast

He better. Peja's had a better season so far.

[Blackjack]

I'm actually looking forward to this game.

I'm absolutely ecstatic the Spurs landed Blair but I was really hoping the Spurs would be able to find a way to get a late-first to draft Casspi; I remember joking with timvp about Blair falling but there's no way in hell did I think it was possible he'd fall that far.

And speaking of Blair, seeing him and Brockman go at it should be worth the price of admission alone. Those some big, bad sonbitches..

Spencer Hawes was a big Duncan fan and modeled a lot of his game after him, so it's always fun to see the young fella' going up against the idol dynamic.

Manu and K-Mart is always a fun matchup as well. Slight, unorthodox, slashers with a whole lot of game and a deceptiveness that's not always appreciated.

We'll get to do a little recon on Nocioni and see just how well he's holding up; I know he's been a target of many on this board.

And of course, it's the Beno-Bowl. Forget the rookie Evans and the impressive outings he's had, this is about the breakfast taco-eating, senorita-chasing, too-hungover-for- practicing former first-round pick; granted, I can only confirm the first two but I figured the third wasn't much of a stretch.

Seeing both Parker and Hill take their shots at 'The Beno' should be a lot of fun.

[DPG21920]

I just want to see a little forward progress from everyone. Play a tight-aggressive game.

[Riverwalkman]

RJ will have a huge game.

[duncan228]

Sacramento Kings (0-2) at San Antonio Spurs (1-1) (http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/basketball/wires/story/1309577.html)
By Sports Network

The San Antonio Spurs will try to rebound from a tough loss when they welcome the Sacramento Kings to the AT&T Center tonight.

San Antonio last played on Thursday and suffered a 92-85 loss at Chicago, as Tim Duncan's 28-point, 16-rebound effort was wasted. Manu Ginobili was the only other player in double figures with 12 points off the bench for the Spurs, who opened the new season with a win Wednesday versus New Orleans.

"Obviously we didn't shoot the ball well, and that contributes to the loss. But I don't really care about that, 'cause that can happen. You can have nights when you make shots, you don't make shots," Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich said after the Chicago loss. "But your hustle, your defense, your boards, your attention to detail is what sustains you, especially on the road. And we didn't have any of that as a group."

Richard Jefferson finished with nine points in defeat.

The Kings, meanwhile, hope to close out a three-game road trip on a winning note after losing the first two tests of the trek. After losing their season opener in Oklahoma City, the Kings dropped a 97-92 decision in New Orleans on Friday night, when rookie Tyreke Evans led the way with 22 points.

Kevin Martin had 20 points and Andres Nocioni ended with 16 for Sacramento, which is still searching for head coach Paul Westphal's first win.

"We shot 37 percent on the road and we had a chance to win it. I'm ecstatic about the things that we did to put us in that position," said Westphal. "You shoot that terribly and have a chance to win on the road, you're doing a lot of good things. We'll have to tell them to make more layups."

San Antonio won all three matchups with Sacramento last season and has won five in a row and 20 of the past 25 contests in this series. The Kings are winless in the last five games at San Antonio.

[shelshor]

Referee Assignments
Sat. Oct. 31
Sacramento @ San Antonio: Joe DeRosa; Courtney Kirkland; Ed Malloy

[duncan228]

Kings think Evans can deliver better future (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=AoocFxzeFKf4mYVIj3.MuTy8vLYF?slug=mc-evanskings103109&prov=yhoo&type=lgns)
By Marc J. Spears

The days of C-Webb and Vlade are over. The clanging cowbells, those wild playoff runs into May – memories of a better time. For the Sacramento Kings, today’s reality is this: They play in an old, half-empty arena, lack a transcendent superstar (in spite of Kevin Martin’s talents) and pile up losses like the franchise once did in those dreary red-white-and-blue days.

The Kings aren’t going to challenge for a championship anytime soon, or even the Western Conference’s eighth and final playoff spot. What they need, more than anything, is hope. And the franchise’s co-owner, Gavin Maloof, believes he’s found it in a 20-year-old from Pennsylvania.

Tyreke Evans will lead these Kings back to the promised land. Someday. They hope.

“I’m tired of all the negativity about this franchise,” Maloof told Kings fans on the night the team drafted Evans. “It’s changing – and it changes today.”

If that sounds like wishful thinking, it is. The Kings won just 17 games last season, and there are more than a few people around the league who wonder whether their current team can win even that many. Evans might be the new face of the franchise, but he isn’t a miracle worker. The teenager from suburban Philadelphia has enough of a challenge in trying to adapt to the NBA, the point-guard position and a new life far from home. Converting the league’s worst team into a playoff contender overnight isn’t going to happen.

Hope, however, isn’t always measured in wins and losses. The Kings – and, just as important, their fans – need a reason to believe that better days are ahead. Evans looks like he has the potential to give them that.

“They expect me to come here and be a good player,” Evans said, “and help change the franchise around.”

While their love affair with Evans grows by the days, many Kings fans initially were unsold on whether the franchise should use the fourth overall pick on him over Spanish point guard Ricky Rubio. It was Rubio who had the flashy game that reminded fans of Jason “White Chocolate” Williams, the franchise’s former playmaker who thrilled crowds with his wild passing. Rubio, the thinking went, would sell more tickets than Evans. He’d appear in more highlight clips. He could be marketed internationally.

While Kings fans were split over the decision, the franchise’s leaders weren’t. They looked even wiser for their choice after Evans played well in summer league and Rubio eventually decided to stay in Spain for two more years rather than play in Minnesota.

“I heard people say they wanted Ricky Rubio,” Evans said. “There were people that said they wanted me. People have opinions every day.

“I came here and showed them that I can work out at point guard. That’s probably the main reason why they picked me.”

Said new Kings coach Paul Westphal: “I definitely didn’t think it was a debate. Rubio has a chance to be a fine player. But for what we needed, Tyreke was the clear choice.”

The Kings obviously need a lot more than Evans. They have one of the league’s top shooting guards in Kevin Martin, but injuries limited him to 51 games last season. Starting small forward Francisco Garcia could miss the entire season with an arm fracture after a freak weight-lifting accident. Big men Jason Thompson and Spencer Hawes both have intriguing potential but are far from proven. Forward Andres Nocioni is a tough, hard-nosed pro but will have his patience tested by the young team. The rest of the roster is filled with journeymen and youngsters.

As for Evans? He, too, is headed for some rough nights.

“I’ve never lost that much, ever,” Evans said. “The most I lost is like six games [in his senior year in high school]. It’s hard. You go out there and play hard every night and you come out with a loss – that’s the worst. You go out there for nothing.”

The Kings can appreciate the attitude, but what they want to see from their young point guard is development. With Evans’ rare size, athleticism and strength – he measures 6-foot-6, 220 pounds – it’s understandable why the Kings are so feverish about him. Already, he can bull and dart into the lane like few guards in the league. He plays with a confident swagger and is quickly earning the respect of his teammates.

The ongoing adjustment to point guard won’t be easy. Evans averaged 15.1 points and 4.7 assists in seven preseason games, but he also was tied for the league lead with four turnovers per game. In his preseason finale against the Utah Jazz, he totaled seven turnovers to four assists.

Still, Evans hasn’t needed long to prove his worth. He scored 22 points in the Kings’ second game of the season – a near-upset of the New Orleans Hornets. Yes, he committed all three of his turnovers in the final quarter, but it also was his jump shot that put the Kings ahead with less than three minutes left.

“We want to show confidence in him,” Westphal said. “We think he can handle it.”

Evans agrees.

“I just feel like with the ball in my hands, 98 percent of the time something good can happen,” he said. “I’m going to do my best to create and give people the ball when they’re open.”

But what about when Evans himself is open? The rookie still has a lot of work to do on his shot. He shot 44.1 percent from the field during the preseason and a dismal 23.1 percent from 3-point range. In the Kings’ season opener, he missed 11 of 16 shots.

The team has assigned famed coach Pete Carril to work with Evans. Their goal is to change the release on Evans’ shot so that he lets the ball go in front of his face rather than by his ear. Evans calls the transition “a work in progress.”

“It’s not as good as it’s going to be,” Westphal said. “He’s working on it. There are a lot of guys who can get to the basket and, in doing so, they don’t work on their shot until later. That describes Tyreke.”

If Evans continues to progress as much as the Kings think he can, he’ll give the franchise a foundation to build upon. No one doubts his talent, and the fans love him already. Maybe, just maybe, he’ll also give the NBA reason to pay attention to the franchise once more.

“He’s willing to learn,” Martin said. “With any first-year guy, especially for someone at the age of 19 being the fourth overall pick, it comes with a lot of pressure and responsibility. He looks like he has the mentality to handle it well.”

For that, the Kings can hope.

[spursfan1000]

I expect us to win this game, if not I will be really dissapointed and shocked.

[duncan228]

KINGS (0-2) AT SAN ANTONIO (1-1) (http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/sports/kings/archives/2009/10/kings-at-hornet-1.html)

Kings update: Like it or not, moral victories do matter to this team. And that was exactly what the Kings pulled off in New Orleans Friday when their toughness and improved defense nearly led to their first win. The same style is needed against the Spurs, who have been doing tough for years now.

Spurs update: Here's the bad news for the Kings: the Spurs were the first team to face the Hornets this season, and their 17-point win was nearly as ugly as the Kings' loss at Oklahoma City on Wednesday. San Antonio is a legitimate title contender, meaning this could still be a long night even if the Kings play well.

Probable starters

KINGS

PG Tyreke Evans
SG Kevin Martin
SF Desmond Mason
PF Sean May
C Jason Thompson

SPURS

PG Tony Parker
SG Mchael Finley
SF Richard Jefferson
PF Matt Bonner
C Tim Duncan

[EmptyMan]

Finley should do the honorable thing and fall on the sword.