The Essentials:
Wizards (6-14) at Kings (4-15)
10 p.m.
Arco Arena
TV: CSN
Radio: 106.7 The Fan
Notable early Kings numbers this season
29th in expected winning percentage (.249)
17th in pace factor (92.2 possessions per game
28th in offensive efficiency (101.7 points/100 possessions)
22nd in defensive efficiency (110.0 points/100 possessions
| Tonight's Starters | ||
|---|---|---|
| Wizards | vs. | Kings |
| John Wall | PG | Tyreke Evans |
| Gilbert Arenas | SG | Beno Udrih |
| Al Thornton | SF | Donte Greene |
| Trevor Booker | PF | Jason Thompson |
| Kevin Seraphin | C | DeMarcus Cousins |
UPDATE 2: Well, masses, you get your wish. Trevor Booker and Kevin Seraphin will start tonight.
UPDATE: Andray Blatche is inactive again.
The Kings stink, so this is as good a time as any for the Wizards to actually get a friggin win on the road. It's hard to put a finger on what's wrong with Sacramento, and that's probably the real issue. For a team with so much young talent, the pieces sure do fit together poorly. If you're tired of Flip Saunders, just imagine the kind of ire Paul Westphal is getting. Maybe the Wizards aren't better than the Kings, but they're hard-pressed to go against too many teams that are worse.
Some pregame links for you:
- Some quick links from the other side: Tyreke Evans apparently is playing through plantar fascitis, according to Cowbell Kingdom. Also, here's Tom Ziller's game preview for Sactown Royalty. Finally, Pick and Scroll has some good stuff on Evans' issues this season.
- Flip Saunders apparently called his big men "soft" after the Lakers game (Trevor Booker and Kevin Seraphin excepted). See, here's the thing with Flip. Sure, he's right that his big men played soft. But all too often, he follows up strong words like this with absolutely no action. Players eventually realize when you're full of hot air and stop trying to change their games when you call them out. What's the point for them to change then? So if you're going to call your bigs soft, then respond by sitting them more often. [CSN Washington]
- Kyle thinks the Wizards should start Booker and sit Andray Blatche from now on. We had a Twitter debate about this, and I think it's still too early to make that call. Give Booker a guaranteed 20-25 minutes off the bench, cut Blatche's minutes, and then see how both respond for a month before doing that. [Truth About It]
- In case you forgot, tonight is the first time John Wall will play his college buddy DeMarcus Cousins. [Jason Jones, Michael Lee]
- After the game, Kobe Bryant apparently came up to Wall and gave him a few pointers. [Michael Lee]
- Earlier today, Tracee Hamilton of the Washington Post wrote something silly about how John Wall needs to calm down his playing style before he gets hurt. I addressed the ridiculousness of this premise on SB Nation D.C.
- Michael Wilbon's new role with ESPN has him writing local sports for ESPN Chicago. Yup, ESPN Chicago. [SB Nation D.C.]
- Gilbert Arenas was apparently sporting some really expensive Doice & Gabbanas shoes last night that cost $395 on retail. I have no idea why he'd do such a thing, but I have no idea why Gilbert Arenas does a lot of things. [TBJ, Nice Kicks, DC Sports Bog]
And finally, I just want to post this screenshot because it cracked me up. Remember when Ron Artest grabbed that one-handed rebound on Gilbert Arenas last night? Relive it, in picture form.
GO WIZARDS!