Kings Media Day, Part 2

So this is part two of my first post, which had two interviews from Kings Media Day. Visit The Sacramento Bee's website to see a short and long video of my interviews with the Kings players and Coach Westphal.

Kevin Martin

Q: What did you do this summer?

A: I went to Hawaii with my fiance.

Q: I heard you play video games. What's your favorite?

A: I have PlayStation 3 and my favorite game is Madden NFL 10.

Q: Did you like hosting a kids basketball camp this past summer?

A: Yes.

Q: In high school, besides basketball, what other sports were you good at?

A: In high school, I only played basketball. Before that, I played football, baseball and basketball.

Q: What do you like most about the new guys?

A: Their work ethic. They're all working really hard.

Spencer Hawes

Q: What is it like being 7 feet tall?

A: It's inconvenient most of the time. But it helps me do what I do on the court.

Q: What do you like to do when the team is on the road.

A: I like to sight see in the cities we visit.

Q: Besides center, what is your favorite position?

A: Center is my favorite position.

Q: Who is the toughest player you play against in the NBA?

A: There are a lot of tough players, like Yao Ming, Pau Gasol, Dwight Howard and others. Yao is the toughest.

I was at the Kings Open Practice last night. They scrimmaged each other, and it was really fun. It was so interesting how they practiced. Everyone watching was so excited when they dunked! I got to see the new Kings players play, like Tyreke Evans, Jon Brockman, Sean May, Desmond Mason, Sergio Rodgriguez, Omri Casspi, Lenny Smith and Melvin Ely. Look for my upcoming posts for interviews with the new players and the rest of the team.

I think we'll have a great team this year! Gooooooo 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!

Harold Pressley's Basketball Camp

My friend Jack and I had the chance to go to a basketball camp this summer hosted by former Sacramento Kings player, Harold Pressley. He let me interview him for my blog, and here are the questions I asked him:

When did you first know that you were going to be an NBA basketball player?
I first knew in June 1986 when the Sacramento Kings drafted me.

Did you practice basketball every day?
I practiced every day, eight hours per day.

How many seasons did you play NBA basketball?
I played in the NBA for four years with the Kings, and I played for five years in Europe, mainly in Spain.

What advice would you give to kids who want to be NBA players?
Work as hard as you can and believe you can, and you will do anything.

I would really recommend this camp because it is really fun, and it builds your basketball skills. We worked on shooting, rebounding, passing and ball handling. We did a lot of drills and also played games. We worked really hard all week and had a lot of fun.

My favorite part of the week was when I won two hot shot contests. For the contest, there were three places you could shoot from -- the block was worth one point, the free throw line was worth 2 and the three-point line was worth three -- and you had to make as many shots as you could in a certain amount of time. In the first contest, I finished in two minutes with 33 points; in the second one, I shot 13 points in thirty seconds. I won a really cool water bottle that came with free soda refills for the rest of the day!

In addition to Harold coaching, there were two other coaches named Zach and Randy. All the coaches were nice and helpful. They had awesome basketball skills! And they could dunk, too.

I hope you liked my interview with Harold Pressley. Until next time, goooo 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!

Cardinals Baseball

I've spent the past few days watching the St. Louis Cardinals. The Cardinal's record is 15-7, which is the best record in all of Major League Baseball. Yes, that is very exciting, but what is cool is their bullpen only has 2 or 3 blown saves so far. For example, the Cardinals had a 1-o lead over the Braves, then the Braves scored 2 runs to win the game 2-1.

The Cardinals have been strong in 1 run games; their record is 4 and 3. The Cardinals' Albert Pujols has already blasted 7 homeruns and 26 RBIs so far this season. He's not alone. Ryan Ludwick has 5 homeruns and 19 RBIs so far. These guys have both battled some sicknesses this year, but they've been able to play and give a great performance each night. This inspires me, and is why I'll be a Cardinals fan through thick and thin.

Are you wondering how I'm catching all of these games? Well, my dad found out how to watch games online. It's really fun. I pull up the web site (mlb.tv) and log on using my e-mail address and a password. Not only do you get to see the game in HD, they give you live commentary and team stats. For example, when they have a new pitcher come in, they show you the pitcher's stats. And when a batter comes up to bat, they show the batter's stats. When there's a score change, they put it on the side of the screen to let you know that some team in another game has scored. So, I can keep track of my Cardinals, plus all of the other MLB games going on at that time. It's so cool, and it's been an interesting experience. Do you watch games on mlb.tv, too?

Gooooo Cardinals!

How the Kings Ended the Season

Tonight the Kings played the Minnesota Timberwolves. Even though I did not get to see the whole game (I was at basketball practice), I can say that the Kings stayed with it in the fourth quarter, which is usually when they lose games, and they won 97-90. But tonight they played like they were in an NBA championship game! They played like they cared, which they could have just said, "We're done. This season's a failure. Who cares if we win?" That's what I love about them. They never quit. I like how my team just doesn't give up when times are bad. That inspires me.

The Kings played fantastic at times during the season, but their record did not show it. I can't even count how many times they should have won games this season. Here's a wild guess: 4o. Let's go through some of them. They played Portland and should have won (92-91). They played Golden State and lost 143-141. What about San Antonio on Monday? Terrible call at the end of the game, and they got burned 95-92. (By the way, a rule they need to make in the off-season is they should be able to review plays that could change an entire game.) What about the game v. the Lakers? Or what about the Cavs? The list goes on and on.

I think overall the Kings played great. As I said before, their record didn't show how hard they played. My player of the year is probably JT or 'Cisco. JT because he's played in every single game this season and gave a lot of effort. 'Cisco because -- there's so many things! One is he played even though he was injured. In my mind, he's the heart of the team. His scoring has gotten even better than before, and so has his great defense. Also, 'Cisco was awarded the triple-double award, so whoever decided that is on the same page as me.

Can't wait to see the Kings next season. Most of my blogs now will be about baseball, and I'll also talk about the spring basketball team I'm playing on.

Until October, gooooo Kings!

The Kings Dominated the Suns

I watched the Kings last night v. the Suns, and I saw a different team than what I usually see. The Kings came out with energy and attacked the inside. But best of all, Spencer and Jason did a good job guarding Shaq. They defended really hard and didn't let up at all.

Last night, seven players were in double figures. Jason was the leading scorer, with 21 points. Spencer had a good night too, with 20 points, tying his career high. 'Cisco and Andres Nocioni had 19 points a piece.

The Kings did well on rebounding, which is the key to getting baskets because if you get rebounds you get to set up your offense. JT had eight rebounds, and Spencer had a double double with 10 rebounds. Together that's 18 rebounds, and that's about half of the team rebounds!

The final score was 126 to 118. I knew the Kings would win from the end of the first quarter on because they came out in the first quarter and started scoring well and playing good defense. And they kept doing that throughout the game which led to a win.

My favorite play of the game was when Beno penetrated into the paint, did a behind-the-back pass to Spencer, and Spencer dunked it. This was my favorite play of the game because it looked really cool.

Now that we're done talking about last night's Kings game, I want to talk about Vlade Divac's jersey retirement. I think it will be a really special night, and it will get everybody very excited about Tuesday's game against the Hornets. I wish I could go, but I already got to go one jersey retirement this year, so I doubt another miracle will happen.

I'm also having a lot of fun following Jason Thompson, the Kings and Sac Bee reporter, Sam Amick, on Twitter. It's really cool getting to know what they're doing and getting the inside scoop on what's happening off the court. I would recommend it to all of my readers -- it's really fun to check and see what they're doing. For example, a few days ago JT ate at Subway, which is my favorite lunch place. That's what you do on Twitter -- you "tweet" and tell people about what you're doing.

I'll be watching the game tomorrow night against the Hornets and cheering for the Kings. Until next time, gooooo Kings!

How We Feel about Mikki

Two weeks ago, I went to the Kings game v. the New Orleans Hornets. Before the game, we watched the players warm up. We waited to see if any of the players would sign autographs. What was special about this night was we got an autograph from Mikki Moore, and it was the last chance to get it. He was waived the next day. My little sister is Mikki's biggest fan, and she's sad, so I thought I would interview her.

Q: How did you feel when they waived Mikki?

A: Sad.

Q: Were you happy that you got to see Mikki play his last game as a King?

A: Yes.

Q: How do you think Mikki was helping the Kings play?

A: I saw him doing great.

Q: What was it about Mikki that you liked so much?

A: He shooted hoops. His long hair. He had snakes. That's all.

Q: What do you think were Mikki's strengths on the court?

A: He had a lot of energy. He had a lot of strength, too.

Q: What did you first think when Mikki picked you up to take a picture?

A: It was fun!

Q: What did you say to Mikki when you first saw him?

A: I said I was his biggest fan! And he said I was his biggest littlest fan.

Q: Do you like being Mikki's biggest littlest fan?

A: Yes.

I feel good for Mikki that he gets to be on a really good team like the Celtics.

Gotta go downstairs and watch my favorite college basketball team Mizzou play Kansas. Until next times, goooooo Kings!

College Basketball

Today I was thinking about what I would blog about, and I thought about something pretty good that I haven't written about EVER. I'm going to write about my favorite college basketball team, the Missouri Tigers aka Mizzou.

They won a game on Saturday against Nebraska. The final score was 70 - 47 with Mizzou on top. I thought Mizzou owned most of the game because they had very consistent shooting, accurate passing, and they valued the ball. The stand-out players were DeMarre Carroll, Leo Lyons, Keith Ramsey and Matt Lawrence. Mizzou's record is now 22-4 and they are ranked #10 out of the 25 best teams in the COUNTRY. When I heard the news about the ranking, I was so shocked that I couldn't even finish my sentence.

Another college team I like is the Duke Blue Devils, who are 20 and 5. Their record is not as good as Mizzou's but I enjoy watching their games. I like Gerald Henderson. I think he's NBA material. Another player I like is Kyle Singler because he hits so many threes.

My mom hooked me up with great seats to watch the Kings take on a former King, Mike Bibby, and the Atlanta Hawks. I'm looking forward to the game on Wednesday!

Gotta go downstairs to watch "24" and Jack Bauer.

Gooooooo Kings!

The Donte and Kenny Show

Last night, I went to a meet and greet event with two Kings players -- Donte Greene and Kenny Thomas. My parents gave me a six-game-pack of Kings tickets for Christmas, and it came with this meet and greet.

It was a cool experience! First, we got to make a tunnel for Donte and Kenny to walk through, and they gave us high-fives as they were coming through. Then we sat back down, and we got to ask them questions for about 30 minutes or so. I asked two questions. One was, "What is it like being on a show like 'The Donte Greene Show'"? I can't remember the second question I asked because I was so nervous!

I also interviewed Donte after the event, and here are his answers to my questions:

Q: What or who inspired you to be an NBA player?

A: My mom and Dominique Wilkins.

Q: What's your pre-game routine?

A: I like to get to the gym three hours early, listen to music and shoot the ball around.

Q: What is the best part of being an NBA player?

A: The traveling. I like seeing different places.

Q: What's on your playlist? (My mom asked this question, but I gave her the idea.)

A: Lil Wayne and Young Jeezy.

I really enjoyed learning more about both of these players. For example, I learned that Donte loves kids and thinks education is really important. In fact, he's still taking some college classes. Some things I learned about Kenny Thomas is that he has a nine-year-old boy just like me, as well as a baby. Kenny's favorite show is "The Unit," just like my mom and dad. He also said how important your education is, and I learned that he is helping kids in New Mexico who are less fortunate.

Those aren't the only great things that happened last night. My mom and dad got tickets to see the Kings game tonight where Chris Webber's jersey will be retired. With these tickets, we get to meet Chris Webber before the game!! I'm so excited that I'm twitching!

I can't wait to post tomorrow about tonight's game -- and it's going to be a win.

Goooooooo KKIINNGGSS!!!!!!!!!!!