April 20, 2001
						Regular Season Pondo Can you believe it? A team from "Cow Country" finished the regular season at 55-27? 33-8 at home and 22-19 on the road? 3rd seed in the Western Conference? Sounds like pretty good to me! Now starts the real fun!
		Picture by Jeff Webber's late season injury hurt his chances to get this award, but a championship would ease the pain.
	Consistency Reno Lady The Kings have actually been one of the most consistent teams in the league this season. It's easy, as the season goes on, to forget about what happened a few weeks earlier but if you go back and look at the record they did a better job than anyone in the West beating teams they should have beat and their biggest "losing streak" was 3 games; every other West. Conf. team had losing streaks of 4+ games. While it may look like they "limped" into the finals to people like hig they actually finished out the season pretty much the way they started it. And let's not forget that "streaking" teams are bound to have some critical losses after a winning streak and often go into a slump. Does this mean the Lakers and Spurs might go into a slump in the playoffs? Not necessarily but it could very well mean they'll stumble a few times and open the door for someone else to walk through. It only takes 1 more game than the opponent to win a series. I think people will see the gritty, determined, refuse to lose Kings throughout the playoffs. I kind of get the sense that they have their plan already in place and know exactly what they have to do. I also think we'll see the "return" of Chris Webber. I know some folks are disappointed about the guys not trying harder last night but I kind of figure they "earned" that goof off game - they've played their hearts and their guts out this season nearly every game and if they want to blow the last one big deal! Nothing was at stake but "our" pride as fans. Don't expect them to look like they did last night from now on however; these guys still want to win, it's just that they're already focused on the bigger picture as I hoped they would be. Webb started out in training camp saying he thought the Kings could go all the way and his teammates have worked hard to show him they believe it too - how many times have we seen these guys come back to take a game everyone thought was lost? How many times have we seen them fight to get into OT and then take over the game? Can anyone really believe they're going to change that "refuse to lose" mindset going into the playoffs? I feel confident that we'll see them play some of their best ball of the season the next few weeks. Favorite Game elroy I was lucky enough to pick up 1140 am all the way here in San Francisco. After the Nugs game, as I'm sure you all heard, the hosts were taking calls wherein people gave their opinions on their top three games in the last season. I didn't call, but wanted to post my favorite here. (Drumroll please . . .)
	The victory over the Blazers at the Rose Garden. THis was the single most significant win of the Sacramento era. It was a turning point in the team's attitude, I think. They learned that they can beat anybody, history not withstanding. I can't express the joy I felt that day. I think the Kings had not won at the Rose garden in 10 or 12 years. But that was before this squad. They proved it to themselves that day, and played with a great deal more confidence for the remainder of the season, IMHO. Who are the Phoenix Suns Bawsor Forwards: Marion, Robinson, Roger, and Gugliotta. Guards: Kidd, Elie, Delk, and Perry Center: Dudley, Tsakalidis The Suns are a dangerous jump shooting and fast-breaking team. Very quick and athletic. The guards are excellent long range shooters. What the Kings must do: (1) Transition defense. The Suns fast-breaks are killers. (2) Perimeter defense: all the forwards are excellent midrange jumpshooters. (3) Exploit their weakest link, the centers: plays must run through Vlade to exploit Suns weakness, Chris must go hard at the basket. It is imperative the Kings must continue to stay focused and play smart. Every play, every shot, every possession counts! Contrary to some of you, I am very concerned about our series with the Suns. The Suns are very quick, athletic, and deadly accurate. They remind a lot of the Milwaukee Bucks; weak of the inside, but dangerous on the perimeter. And the Bucks swept our series. We have played poorly against the run-and-gun teams; Dallas is another team that comes to mind. The Kings must be focused and relentless; confident but not cocky. I hope we will stop talking about the Lakers and focus on the Suns instead. Jeff In my opinion, the Keys to the Kings success are simple. Play fundamental on the boards (ie boxout on offense and defense), aggressively go TO the ball (every ball; loose balls, rebounds, stray passes....always do whatever you can to beat your man to the ball) and make Phoenix pay down low. That is all the Kings need to concentrate on (outside being efficient on offense) to beat Phoenix....If the Kings can shoot lights out, they should be able to sweep if they can concentrate on the above items. Critic I agree with you that the Kings should focus on attacking the Suns inside. That's where the Suns are weakest and so I'd be looking for CWebb and Vlade to get the ball inside most of the trips down court. I'd find out quickly if young Mr. Tsalkalidis belongs playing in an NBA playoff game. I'm guessing he doesn't(yet). I think the Kings can beat the Suns w/o playing their best, but after that, it could be 40 miles of rough road. They need to focus on the concentration and energy items you pointed to get ready for later ones, where they could get flushed quickly if they don't bring a body-banging and and loose-ball-diving mentality to every game, starting at each opening tip. Best to get used to it now. I would also try to make sure CWebb gets 10-12 minutes of rest if at all possible (2-3 minutes of pine time before and after each 1/4 break) and hustle his butt to the bench the instant a game gets into garbage time. Forget stats. Give those ankles as much pine time as possible w/o risking a loss. The best solution for resting CWebb? Sweep the series and hope Portland at least makes LA play 4 or 5. Ken Listening to the radio. I know everyone is excited, but c'mon, people are already talking about beating the Lickers in the 2nd round? People really have no worries about the Suns series? Isn't Webber's shot selectiona and defense on Robinson and Roger a major concern? Let's face reality. Beat the Suns first before we get hypered about the 2nd round. Yup yup, the Suns radio guy just said on 1140 that role players from the bench like Delk and Rogers are gonna have great impact on this series. Also, even the Kings won the season series 3-1, those games are close. Delk put on 53 pts one time, one of Kings home win was OT, and the Kings' W in PHO wasn't pretty either (Suns totally beat up Kings in Q1, Q2, and then Kigns beat up Suns Q3 and Q4.) and that last game, those Suns PFs shot the Kings down. This isn't a overwhelmingly one-sided matchup, guys. The Kigns havn't been playing great lately. They beat the Grizz in Sac only by 10 pts!!!! The Kings must play tight D and rb the damn ball. Playoff Schedule Bonsy Here's the total playoff schedule sorted by date/time if anyone is interested. Just cut/paste it into notepad and print it out if you want a reference. Game 1: Indiana at Philadelphia, Sat. 4/21, 9:30 a.m. Game 1: Dallas at Utah, Sat. 4/21, 12 p.m. Game 1: Minnesota at San Antonio, Sat. 4/21, 2:30 p.m. Game 1: Charlotte at Miami, Sat. 4/21, 5:30 p.m. Game 1: Toronto at N.Y., Sun. 4/22, 9:30 a.m. Game 1: Phoenix at Sacramento, Sun. 4/22, 12 p.m. Game 1: Portland at L.A. Lakers, Sun. 4/22, 2:30 p.m. Game 1: Orlando at Mil., Sun. 4/22, 5:30 p.m. Game 2: Charlotte at Miami, Mon. 4/23, 4 p.m. Game 2: Minnesota at San Antonio, Mon. 4/23, 6:30 p.m. Game 2: Indiana at Phil., Tue. 4/24, 5 p.m. Game 2: Dallas at Utah, Tue. 4/24, 7:30 p.m. Game 2: Orlando at Mil., Wed. 4/25, 5 p.m. Game 2: Phoenix at Sac., Wed. 4/25, 7:30 p.m. Game 2: Toronto at New York, Thu. 4/26, 5 p.m. Game 2: Portland at L.A.L., Thu. 4/26, 7:30 p.m. Game 3: Miami at Charlotte, Fri. 4/27, 5 p.m. Game 3: Philadelphia at Indiana, Sat. 4/28, 9:40 a.m. Game 3: Utah at Dallas, Sat. 4/28, 12 p.m. Game 3: San Antonio at Minnesota, Sat. 4/28, 2:30 p.m. Game 3: Milwaukee at Orlando, Sat. 4/28, 5:30 p.m. Game 3: New York at Tor., Sun. 4/29, 9:30 a.m. Game 3: Sacramento at Phoenix, Sun. 4/29, 12 p.m. Game 3: L.A. Lakers at Portland, Sun. 4/29, 2:30 p.m. Game 4*: Miami at Charlotte, Mon. 4/30, TBD Game 4*: San Antonio at Minnesota, Mon. 4/30, TBD Game 4*: Milwaukee at Orlando, Tue. 5/1, TBD Game 4*: L.A. Lakers at Portland, Tue. 5/1, TBD Game 4*: Utah at Dallas, Tue. 5/1, TBD Game 4*: Philadelphia at Indiana, Wed. 5/2, TBD Game 4*: New York at Toronto, Wed. 5/2, TBD Game 4*: Sacramento at Phoenix, Wed. 5/2, TBD Game 5*: Orlando at Milwaukee, Thu. 5/3, TBD Game 5*: Charlotte at Miami, Thu. 5/3, TBD Game 5*: Minnesota at San Antonio, Thu. 5/3, TBD Game 5*: Dallas at Utah, Thu. 5/3, TBD Game 5*: Toronto at New York, Fri, 5/4, TBD Game 5*: Indiana at Philadelphia, Fri. 5/4, TBD Game 5*: Phoenix at Sacramento, Fri. 5/4, TBD Game 5*: Portland at L.A. Lakers, Fri. 5/4, TBD Latest Odds Ceez01 Here are the odds for this weekend if any one is interested: Indiana @ Philadelphia (-7.5) Dallas @ Utah (-4) Minnessota @ San Antonio (-9.5) Charlotte @ Miami (-6) Toronto @ New York (-3.5) Phoenix @ Sacramento (-7.5) Portland @ Los Angeles (-6.5) Orlando @ Milwakee (-8 )