Basketball Round-up

Congratulations, Sam!

If you don't know already, Sam Amick the Kings reporter for The Sacramento Bee has left to cover the whole NBA on http://www.nba.fanhouse.com/. I will miss reading his stories in the paper every morning, but I can't wait to see his articles on FanHouse. He's the greatest!

Kings

The Kings beat the Clippers last night, and Beno hit a career high 17 assists. That really helped the Kings win. My mom's been talking about the "Beno Factor." She thinks the Kings play better when he's on the court. I completely agree with her! Beno's presence on the court gives the Kings something special. He runs the offense so well.

Carl Landry is another player who has been playing great. He scored 24 against the Clippers, and he's consistently scored like that since he was traded to the Kings. He has a killer medium range jumper and drive to the basket. He's been a great addition to the team.

Francisco Garcia has played great since he's been back from his injury. Cisco's been consistently scoring, passing and defending. I especially liked schooled Brandon Jennings last Friday when he defended him. All night, Brandon had to really work for his baskets.

I can't wait to watch the Kings game in a few minutes. I hope you're watching like I am.

Goooooo Kings!

My Kings Report Card

Tuesday's newspaper had the Kings grades, and here is what I think of them. For the most part, I agree with Sam's grades, but I wanted to write my own thoughts too.


Tyreke Evans: paper grade A-, my grade A -- Tyreke's been really consistent with his scoring.

Kevin Martin: paper grade C+, my grade B -- Kevin's worked hard to get back to his old stroke, and he showed that last night in the game against Utah.

Jason Thompson: paper grade B-, my grade B -- He has given the Kings some quality scoring and rebounding, but he could improve.

Spencer Hawes: paper grade D+, my grade B -- He has been good on the three point shot, but he needs to drive to the basket and dunk it more.

Jon Brockman: paper grade B, my grade A- -- Jon fights for the rebounds and scoring, and he's been giving his full effort.

Omri Casspi: paper grade B+, my grade B+ -- Omri's been hitting some big threes and getting some nice inside shots, but he needs to be more physical inside.

Donte Greene: paper grade B-, my grade B -- Donte's been really physical inside and has been getting some easy shots, but he needs to work on his outside shot so he can hit it any time he wants.

Andres Nocioni: paper grade C, my grade B -- Lately, Andres has been hitting threes and driving, but he needs to figure out more tricks to fake out the defender.

Sergio Rodriguez: paper grade B-, my grade B -- Sergio has not hogged the ball a single bit and has had some great assists, but he needs to attack the basket and score for himself.

Kenny Thomas: paper grade B-, my grade B -- It's been great seeing Kenny on the court this year, and he's giving his full effort.

Ime Udoka: paper grade C+, my grade B -- Ime has seen quality minutes and has therefore shown what he can do. I like the way he plays.

Beno Udrih: paper grade B, my grade A- -- Beno has been scoring so consistently, passing and he's made me really happy to see him playing so well this year.

Hilton Armstrong: paper grade I, my grade I -- I don't enough about his playing to comment.

Sean May: paper grade I, my grade B+ -- I saw a half-time interview with Sean, and he said that he prepares himself for every game for when Coach calls on him. I see that as a sign that he's a real pro. This has shown in the last couple of games he's played in and done well.

Francsico Garcia: paper grade I, my grade B+ -- Even though he hasn't played due to his injury, I've seen him on the sidelines at every game, helping his team with advice and support. He's been especially helpful to Omri, which is really cool.


Wednesday night's win against Golden State shows that the Kings bench and starters are improving. I'd like to see the Kings get some more defensive stops and more scoring on the other end. Then we can see some more Ws.

Can't wait to see my Kings take on the Bobcats tonight. Gooooo Kings!

Kings Media Day, Part 1

Yesterday was Kings Media Day, and I got to interveiw all the Kings players for http://www.sacbee.com/! The video of my interviews will run on Sunday, October 4, so check it out. All of the players were so nice. I was pretty nervous at first and was actually sweating! But then it got to be really fun because after I'd done a few interviews, I realized the players would be really nice.

Over the next week, I will be doing seperate posts containing a few players interviews every post. Since I was interviewing the guys in front of a video camera and not taking notes, the answers below are from memory and not exactly how the players said it.

Francisco Garcia

Q:What did you do this summer?

A: I played for the Dominican team and relaxed.

Q:What do you think about the new guys on the team?

A: They've been working really hard.

Q: What do you like to drink during the games -- water or sports drinks?

A: Water

Q: What is your typical pre-game meal?

A: Chicken

Q: What do you like to do on your off days?

A: Relax and swim in his pool.

Q: Will you be hosting a kids basketball camp this summer?

A: Yes

Q: I'm a big St. Louis Cardinals fan, and I know that both you and Albert Pujols are from the Dominican Republic. Do you know him?

A: I do know Albert. I talked with him over the summer; he's humble and hardworking.

Donte Green

Q: What are you mist excited about for the upcoming season?

A: I'm excited to play basketball.

Q: What do you have planned for the Donte Green Show?

A: I'm going to maybe show up on a farm with Kevin.

Q: What did you do in the off-season?

A: I worked out pretty hard to get ready for the season.

Then I told Donte that I follow him on Twitter, and he laughed. He told me to send him a message, but I follow him through my mom's twitter account.

So, these are the first two interviews I'm posting. I'll post the rest of the interviews over the next week, so keep visiting. And before I sign off, I want to do a shout-out to Sam Amick, the Sacramento Bee's Kings reporter for making it possible for me to go to the Kings Media Day. Thanks, Sam!

I'm really excited for the new season. After interviewing the players, I think we're going to do really well! Goooooo Kings!

Sam the Man

Yesterday I did an interview with Sam Amick. He's really nice and approachable! For people who don't know, Sam is the top reporter who covers the Kings in the sports section of The Sacramento Bee. Before we met, I thought of six questions I really wanted to ask Sam - -and here are his answers for you to read:

Q: Did you always know that you were going to be a writer?
A: I first knew I wanted to be a writer when I was in college.

Q: Do you go on the road with the Kings?
A: I go on the road with them but on a different flight.

Q: Who do you think the Kings should draft?

A: Rubio, if he's available.

Q: When you were a kid did you play sports?

A: Yes, I played basketball, baseball, soccer, wrestling and football. Baseball was my favorite and basketball my second favorite.

Q: What NBA player would most help the Kings?

A: Hedo Turkoglu

Q: Did you like that the Kings got Paul Westphal?

A: Yes because he's had a lot of success in the past.

Sam also gave me some advice, which is "Write what you believe." I think this is really cool advice because it means I should always write the truth the way I see it.

Some of you might remember my post about the Kings grades that Sam wrote. Well, Sam and I disagreed about the grades, but what was great was that Sam didn't get mad about it. This goes back to his advice for me -- write what you believe.

This upcoming season both Sam and I are looking forward to exciting games, like a game that's tied with 10 seconds left and then the Kings hit a big shot to win it. I'm looking forward to the fun King events, meeting more players, seeing how Paul Westphal coaches, and I'm REALLY looking forward to seeing who we get in the draft!

Thank you, Sam, for taking time out of your busy schedule to meet with me. If you ever want to meet with somebody and eat ice cream and talk Kings again, I'll do it!

Until October, gooooo Kings!

Thanks, Sam!

I was reading all of the comments on my last post, and someone sent my mom a link to Sam Amick's blog post and to the Rise Guys show that Sam was on. Sam said he disagreed with what I wrote in my last post, but he really liked my spirit. I think that's really thoughtful and cool of him. I still stick by what I said in my last post, but that doesn't mean I won't read Sam's articles every morning.

So, anyway, I watched today's early game v. the Raptors, and I thought the Kings played really good in the first half. But the problem was the second half because in the third quarter the Kings were outscored 31 to 21. By the end of the quarter, they were down by 14. I still had faith that they could win. But then when the Kings started playing in the 4th, Toronto kept getting on good runs, and we could only score like on every three possessions. I was really happy that even when the game was over with only a minute left, the Kings still played like they had a lot more time. To me, that took real focus and hope. I felt heartbroken when they lost. I felt like they did such a good job in the first two quarters, but down the stretch they lost by sixteen. The highlight of the game for me was Cisco getting a technical. I know that sounds weird, but I really felt like he wanted to scare the Rapters to get something going. And I thought it kind of worked for a little bit, but Chris Bosh gave 31 points, which really hurt us.

In my basketball game yesterday, we won 46-34. I scored a season high of 14 points, and I know it sounds low, but it was really hard to get those points because we were playing a great team. We're now 3-0. And now here are some highlights from the game: (1) At the buzzer of the 3rd quarter, I hit a hook shot, and that got my whole team on their feet. I was taking high fives and celebrating. I was like, "Yeah!" I think I jumped four feet in the air I was so happy. And then I hit another one off the backboard in the last quarter. (2) My friend Troy hit a 3-pointer and swished it. (3) My other friend Chase hit a driving lay-up with two seconds left on the clock in the 2nd quarter. (4) And another one of my friends Logan got a lot of offensive rebounds which led to more points. The whole team had great passing. One of the problems in the first two games was that we didn't pass enough.

Gotta go get my sister in trouble. Until next time, gooooo Kings!

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!!!!!!!