The Front Page

The Good: The Guards
The Bad: Everybody Else

Evans ( B ) -- Reke was back, and then some. Looked good out there, big, athletic and aggressive, critically on both ends of the court. Some great takes to the rim early, and some good help defense, but also forcing a little on the perimeter leading to turnovers. Faced lots of doubles, but looked considerable smoother as a passer and using his drives to set up Fredette and Thornton. Looked like he knew where they were going to be too rather than that jump in the air and look around and awkwardly throw it thing. Form on his jumper looked considerably better too. It was quicker, and much more upright. Unfortunately it did not go in, but they were all on line. Looked much more setteld as a team player as well, taking only 10 shots despite looking physically dominant and moving the ball willingly.

Hickson ( D ) -- began the game determined to attack in the post, which could be handy when Cousins is out of the game. Unfortunately despite our repeatedly feeding him on the block, he wasn't converting any of them. Otherwise invisible out there and looked confused and impotent on defense. Grabbed a few boards early, disappeared entirely after the break.
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Any minute now the Sacramento Kings are announcing they are going "back in black."

Earlier this summer we saw the NBA 2K12 version and today makes it official.

The Kings vs Lakers game will NOT be a winter white out but instead a "black out."

The Kings will wear their new black jerseys and fans who attend will get a free black T-shirt.

The Kings will wear them again at Portland the next night.

This has been two years in the making and it's finally back.

You can purchase their four game "Back in Black" ticket package which is for the first four home games and you will get other T-shirts with that too.

There are 53 exclusive authentic black Kings jerseys with a 6th man shield patch. Make that 52 because I am getting one. :-)

You can purchase the new jerseys at - http://www.kingsteamstore.com ...

No matter what the arguments are on either side of the coin, the bottom line is that we the fans are the ones who are really suffering as the NBA lockout continues to drag on.

I'm sorry but I cannot feel any kind of empathy or pity for an athlete who is being paid millions of dollars to play a game. And yes, while his"earning time" may be short, most NBA players earn more in a single year than a lot of us can expect to earn in 10 or even 20 years. It's hard, therefore, especially with the unemployment rate in California at something in excess of 12%, to feel much pity for those who want us to feel their pain.

I'm tired of the posturing and I'm tired of watching the travesty of "negotiations" between the players and the owners. Are the owners blameless in this whole embraglio? Of course not, but it's much easier to understand their point of view. They want to be able to make a profit. That's pretty easy to grasp, even if you don't accept the whole picture the owners are painting.

I want to be able to watch basketball for the 2011-2012 season. I want to be able to watch NBA basketball. And I want to be able to see my favorite players take the court on Nov. 2 at Power Balance Pavilion.

Wouldn't it be nice if just once the players - and the owners - took a moment to acknowledge the fact that without us, the loyal fans, they wouldn't have anything to argue about? If we weren't willing to pay sometimes exorbitant sums to put our posteriors in the seats to watch the games, who would?

Come on, players. Come on, owners. Get your heads out of your arses and get this lockout settled. You owe it to yourselves but most importantly, you owe it to us. Do it soon, before we decide that there are a lot of other things we could be spending our hard-earned money on than overpriced tickets to watch a bunch of millionaires play a game for an hour or so. ...

I don't know how much of Jimmer everybody was able to watch during the college season aside from his highlights. The mtn and versus aren't the easiest channels to find. I watched a lot of Jimmer so I wanted to give you my take on who he is and how successful he is likely going to be in the league.

He will help sell tickets and generate revenue for the Kings. He'll sell a lot of jerseys (just like Tebow did) and the Kings should anticipate an increase in ticket sales. I think that you'll find the less avid basketball fan more willing to come to games, my wife cried when she found out that Jimmer wouldn't be playing for the Jazz and she declared the Kings her new favorite team : )
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Name: Kawhi Leonard
Position: SF
Age: 20
Hgt: 6'7"
Wgt: 227
College/Country: San Diego St.
Class: Sophomore
10-11 Stats: 32.6min 15.5pts (.444 .291 .759) 10.6reb 2.5ast 1.4stl 0.6blk 2.1TO
Projected Draft Position: #6-#8
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Kingfans Scouting Report #1:

Kawhi Leonard: 6'7", 227 pound, SF. I'll start by saying that I think the Kings are very high on Leonard. And I think he would be a good fit for the team. As well as being talented, he brings a lot of intangibles. He's a terrific competitor with a motor that never quits. He's a winner along with being a quiet leader. Most of all, he's a team player, that will do whatever is asked of him. Along with Fredette, he's another player that I got to see a lot this past season, and on three occasions, I got to see them play against one another, with Fredette winning two of the three battles.

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Name: Jonas Valanciunas
Position: C
Age: 19
Hgt: 6'11"
Wgt: 240
College/Country: Lithuania
Class: N/A
10-11 Stats: 14.9min 7.6pts (.700 .000 .917) 5.4reb 0.2ast 0.2stl 0.6blk 1.4TO
Projected Draft Position: #4-#8
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Kingfans Scouting Report #1:

Jonas Valanciunas: 6'11", 240lbs, Lietuvos Rytas, 19 yrs old

Jonas is a project which could potentially take 2-3 years to develop, but the risk is minimal. Very solid at finishing around the basket, on putbacks, dump-off passes, or the pick & roll. Does not have a good post game, where you can dump the ball into him and let him attack one-on-one, but has shown both growth and promise in that area, and should only improve. Does not have an away from the basket, or face up game at this time. However, he shoots an extremely impressive 91% from the free throw line, with above average shooting machanics, which leads many to believe it is only a matter of time until he becomes a threat away from the basket.
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