his FTs, then why can’t Webber and other Kings do so? This is the most troubling thing about the Sacramento Kings. King’s of the NBA need to make their free throws, period. We don’t need to replace hack-a-shaq with hack-a-whack Webber, or for that matter Vlade, too. I know that I am pounding on this issue, but it really does threaten to be the undoing of the Kings, especially in tough, close games and in the light of uneven officiating.

Bonnie49erKings

Doug Christie is just solid. He's like the rock of the team. He's always there on defense. He shoots only when he knows its needed or the right time and he delivers. He's just so underrated by the national media, it's ridiculous.

Peja's defense on Dirk. I don't how he got this, but it's like someone told him a secret and his style of defense just happens to be what Dirk hates. I was watching Webber on Dirk most of the first half. Webber doesn't guard guys close. It's like he's afraid they'll just embarrass him by going around him. He's usually a step back and then lunges toward them as they shoot. Dirk can shot over that all day long. His ankle might have a little to do with that, but it's also that Webber's never been a glove on defense. It doesn't fit his body well. Peja, however, stays right up on Dirk and down low. Watch him croutch. I look at it and think "Dirk can just shoot right over him." But oddly, he doesn't. He feels Peja there and tries to get some space and can't. Peja is quick enough to just stay in front of Dirk no matter where Dirk turns. Remember that Dirk isn't Allen Iverson here. It's like Dirk is nervous about having Peja so close and slapping at the ball and Dirk just crumbles.

The Kings didn't play that well. They played good defense in spurts, but not the whole game. I felt they even started out just passive on defense. Grabbing offensive rebounds from the Mavs misses was almost too easy and that made them a bit lazy. But the Kings offense was what bothered me the most. We stopped running any offense at all. Too many quick shots. Too many isolations and no passes. Part of it was Bobby coming back, but I can't blame Bobby for all of it. Other people were doing it as well. Watch that last shot by Keon and you'll see the "luck". The "luck" is called "not boxing out by Finley". Keon had Finley between himself and the basket. Finley went in to try to grab the missed shot instead of boxing out Keon. (See Critic and Big O, I'm paying attention to this now.) In other words, there was no "luck" involved. Well, Bobby's 3 to tie the game was a lot of "luck"... But Keon's was a result of his own work and the Mavs absolute ignorance of how to defend their basket.