Sunday, January 18, 2009

Sac Bee Doesn't Make the Grade

When I woke up this morning, I thought I had my blog all planned out. But when I picked up the Sunday paper, I had different thoughts completely! In today's sports section, Sam Amick graded all of the Kings players. He graded the players' efforts, and his grades are totally bad and unfair.

For example, he gave Kevin Martin a C+, even though he's been averaging over 20 points for the last nine games. Another example, Francisco Garcia's grade was a C-, even though he's been saving us defensively and from my perspective he's the most aggressive player on the team. Plus, his scoring just gets better and better. Personally, I think Sam Amick's writing about the team gets an F because it's the most negative and just plain wrong. His perspective is more than off. His perspective is so bad I can't think of a bad enough word for it.

If I had been graded in the paper like the Kings have, I would feel terrible. If we want to see some more wins, the guys need to see more positive things. When I get off the court and my coach comes over to me, he tells me how I played great and also tells me how I can play better. If he said to me, "You played terrible, I could see better playing from a donkey, your grade is an F," I would want to just quit.

Enough negative stuff. This past week, I saw the Kings that I've dreamed of seeing for the last 41 games. They won two of four this week which is better than they've done in a long time. I was at the Mavs game, and they creamed them. The beat Golden State in triple overtime!!! They almost came back during the Bucks game. What can make a fan happier than that?

I gotta go get ready to watch some NFL football games today, like the Steelers (I got a lot of comments about that in my last post), and then the Eagles v. the Cardinals. I'm rooting for the Steelers and the Eagles.

One last note to my Kings: Don't let this Sac Bee article get you down. He's just one person. Think about all of the fans that love you guys.

Gooooooooo KINGS!!!!!!!

5 comments:

Michael C said...

Sam is right on. This is a 10-31 team!!! They suck!! They have played like crap. Gee, let's give them all A's so we can be positive and they can all feel good about themselves. We don't want them to cry or have hurt feelings. I love the Kings too. But too often they have completely lacked passion and toughness and focus for entire halves of games. They deserve the bad grades they got. You can't blame it all on the coach(es)

Big Red said...

The Kings came up big last week. Knocking off a good team like Dallas and playing an exciting triple-overtime game vs Warriors was exciting basketball. One thing I'd like Sacramento to improve on is playing more consistently. You shouldn't allow the Bucks to come to town and go up 20-25 points on you. That's not acceptable to me. The Kings can not allow opposing teams to come to their building and push them around. I expect Petrie might be making some player moves shortly. Don't be surprise if Brad Miller is traded.

Unknown said...

You're wise to cheer for the Steelers. Sorry about the Eagles, but it can't be an all Pennsylvania Super Bowl.

Hope the Steelers add that sixth SB ring and become the first team to have 6 -- they were the first to have 4.

AC II said...

I really identified with your comments about the Sac Bee report card. It's much more constructive to hear the positive with the negative rather than just negative. Keep up the level-headed, "glass half-full" positive attitude--it will take you far in life...AND will send some cheer to the Kings at a time when they really need it.

DBaker said...

I also have to agree with the fact that Sam is right on. Believe me little man, I would like nothing more than to praise the Kings. I've been a fan since I was your age and they first moved to Sacramento. I was a ball boy for players like Joe Kline, L-Train, Reggie Theus, etc. Aside from a few games, (Golden State, Phoenix, and Dallas, the lack of defense and effort on the floor looks like the Kings of old. With the exception of the rookies playing with tons of heart, the veterans just look like old men out there stealing a paycheck.
I definitely believe in positive reinforcement, however we saw how that was taken advantage of by the players mentioned above and others in the Jerry Reynolds years.
Bottom line, you've got to call a spade a spade, and although I agree with the midseason grade of the Kings, I believe that Sam should also include a 3-5 year grade of F for the Maloof's. The same owners that made us so great by SPENDING MONEY from 1999-2005, have now taken the Kings back 15 years through penny pinching and being too involved in the managment of this team.
Petrie is a basketball genius and has an amazing eye for talent, but has been handcuffed over the past 5 years thus unable to bring the Kings back to the next level.
Here is the sad truth: 1)The Maloof's screwed up with the firing of Adelman, 2)should never have let Bonzi Wells go after losing to the Spurs in 5, and 3)Don't let the lack of support for a new arena stop you from rewarding the great fans of Sacramento with a high quality product to root for.
Geoff Petrie deserves an A for staying and putting up with the BS for as long as he has.
George, Gavin, you own a huge casino in vegas..... It's time to stop the penny pinching and bring back the Furvor you have when you first bought this team. Mark my words, if you bring a legitimate contender into Sacramento for three years straight, you'll have your new arena approved before you know it.
Just a little advice for Kenny Natt: DEFENSE leads to TURNOVERS which lead to FAST BREAKS. I know it's a novel idea, but maybe we should look into it once in a while. As long as these Kings keep giving up an average of almost 108 points a game, then I agree with Sam's evaluation 100%.