It’s frustrating when - 1. A player that averages 11.6 points per game scores 25 and has 12 boards. The big scorer - Shawn Marion, a guy past his prime that rarely puts up those types of numbers anymore. 2. Your team shoots horrible from beyond the arc. The big culprit - shooting 6-for-26 from three-point land, including Isaiah Thomas' 0-for-7.  Add it up and it’s not recipe for success - you probably lose that game nine times out of ten. That’s exactly what happened on Friday evening at Sleep Train Arena when the Dallas Mavericks came to town and beat the Sacramento Kings 117-108 in a game that the home team had under control at the end of the first quarter. “I knew we had to get a

When asked at the beginning of the season who I thought should start at the point for your Sacramento Kings, I said Aaron Brooks, no questions asked. For me, starting Isaiah Thomas was not even an option. Fast forward to the present and, not only have I softened my stance against “The Pizza Guy” starting, but am finally seeing the reasons Coach Keith Smart has stuck with him since inserting him into the starting lineup in the first week of the regular season. Let’s be honest here. After watching Tyreke Evans run the show for SacTown for nearly three years, I really struggled watching ‘Reke play the small forward late last year. I got the concept, but didn’t think it was the best way to

For the second game in a row, Tyreke Evans was an integral part and the catalyst of two Kings comebacks that resulted in wins. On Thursday evening, March 21, at Sleep Train Arena, the Sacramento Kings toppled the Minnesota Timberwolves 101-98 in front of 12,176 riled up fans. Make no mistake about it. Ever since the Brothers Maloof’s secret sale became uncovered, the attendance at the ole barn has increased and the fans there are getting louder and louder with their collective “Sac-ra-men-to” and “Here we stay” chants at each game. With Evans’ contract running out at the end of the season - the club does have the right to match any offer for next season - there is lots of speculation a

He was supposed to be Buster the third. I mean, everyone in the family expected it to happen once they found out Tywanna was having the baby. That is, everyone but Tywanna. “She refused for me to be another Buster,” Patterson said. “The whole family wanted me to be Buster, but they lost the argument.” Patrick Patterson is the cornerstone in the trade that also brought Cole Aldrich and Toney Douglas to the Kings on February 20 of this year in exchange for Thomas Robinson, Francisco Garcia and Tyler Honeycutt. In Patterson, the Kings get a more experienced power forward that can also spread the floor with his outside shooting ability. For “P-Pat” - as he’s known - it was quite a benefi

The Sacramento Kings hosted the Phoenix Suns Wednesday night at Sleep Train Arena. Sacramento held the lead up until the beginning of the fourth quarter when a Kings season-high 25 turnovers eventually took its toll. Mayor Kevin Johnson sat on the sidelines and watched the Suns quickly change the momentum of the game in the fourth quarter and ended up winning by the score of 106 – 96. 

Multiple basketball teams took part in the Hoops for the Hunger event on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day at Natomas Charter School. Teams consisted of ten players and each participating player brought two canned goods for the single-game elimination tournament. Event organizer Carl Gayle discusses the tournament and future plans in the following video: Editor’s note: The “News Digest” goes out every Tuesday morning and highlights our best stories, photos and videos from the week prior. Sign me up.

When you’re the Sacramento Kings (15-24) and a team like the Washington Wizards (7-29) come to town, you really should be feeling like a win is in the near future. Like now. But if you look at the Kings’ wins this season, they have compiled up just as many wins against good teams - Lakers, Warriors, Blazers, Jazz and Knicks than they have against the bottom of the league - the Torontos, Orlandos, Clevelands and the Washingtons of the world. So gauging the meaning of a single victory is hard these days. All Kings head honcho Keith Smart knows is that now is the time for W’s - wins to be chalked up onto the big board. On Wednesday evening at Sleep Train Arena the home town put out the fi

The Sacramento Kings denied a last-minute scoring attempt by the Washington Wizards, winning 95-94 in front of an enthusiastic crowd at Sleep Train Arena on Wednesday evening. DeMarcus Cousins, Tyreke Evans and John Salmons each scored 21 points for the Kings.   Photos by Ron Nabity

Amazing! Incredible! Unlikely? Yeah, that’s it. Unlikely. Of all the words you could use to describe the way Friday night’s Sacramento Kings game ended, unlikely probably suits it best. In a game that saw the Kings get a 27-point lead, lose that lead and then have a guy hit his first three-pointer of the season just as time ran out for the win - yeah, very unlikely. The Kings beat the visiting Knicks 106-105 on a buzzer-beating shot by James Johnson at Sleep Train Arena on Friday evening in a game that kept every fan on edge of their seats until the finals clicks on the clock ran dry. “That’s all I’m rolling on right now is confidence,” Johnson said. “As long as I can continue work

Denver Nuggets came into town and made light work of the Sacramento Kings minus Marcus Thornton who remained with his sick mother. Denver never looked back as they had a lead as big as 19pts in the first half. Nice contributions from Fredette and another 20pts from Thomas wasn't enough to see the Kings lose this one 97-122. All Photos courtesy of Darren Hall Photography.net Website: http://darrenhallphotography.net Facebook Page: http://acebook.com/DarrenHallPhotographynet

In a finally nearly filled Sleep Train Arena on Friday evening, the Sacramento Kings beat the visiting Orlando Magic 91-82 to win two games in a row for only the second time this frustrating season. DeMarcus Cousins had a big night scoring 17 points, grabbing 14 boards and had three steals, two blocks and four assists. Not a bad night for the Kings’ big man. Four other players scored in double figures including Isaiah Thomas (17), Jimmer Fredette (15), Jason Thompson (12) and Aaron Brooks (11). So far in the early going of the 2012-13 campaign, the Kings have not got the engine humming smoothly down the tracks. The early culprits were trying to find the right combo at guard, the suspens

Although not on display Friday evening at Sleep Train Arena during the Kings/Pacers matchup (Tyreke Evans sat with a bruised left knee), the recent on-court pairing of Evans and Aaron Brooks seems to have helped Sacramento get it’s offense back on track. The win totals may not be piling up but it sure is promising to see the team score more points lately. The decision by Coach Keith Smart to insert Brooks into the starting point guard role to replace Isaiah Thomas coincided with the fact that Evans jumper was finding it’s mark. Since the change, Evans is averaging 21 points, 4.8 assists and 5.4 rebounds. Brooks’ average has also increased to 10.8 per game. I caught up with Coach Smart

THE SHOT By now, unless you’ve been living in a cave somewhere in the Maldives, you know that Tyreke Evans has spent countless hours during the offseason and into the season working on his jump shot. A shot, unless explained to you, you’d think Evans would or should have in his bag of tricks. Now here’s the explanation. Let’s, for a moment, compare Evans to another primary ball-handler from his college days, Jimmer Fredette. Fredette was in an offense that had him not only as the primary ball-handler, but as its main scorer too. His money shot was from the outside - a silky, smooth jumper - from anywhere on the court! Evans didn’t have to hone his jumper, as in college no one could kee

When the Sacramento Kings met up with the Atlanta Hawks on Friday at newly crowned Sleep Train Arena (sounds good to have Arena back in the name), a couple of goals must have been in mind. First, play better than they did the week before and second, hope Tyreke’s jumper was coming into form. I guess you could say they went one-for-two as they lost to the Hawks 112-96 in a game that had the loyal fans on their feet booing in the closing moments, but on the bright side, Tyreke Evans' shot is looking better one game at a time. THE PLAY Booing at the obvious lack of effort and an insufficient amount of offensive movement at times shows the fans in attendance (only 11,814 on a Friday) still

Photos by Darren Hall - see his work at darrenhallphotographynet.

The Sacramento Kings won their first home game of the season on Monday night against the Golden State Warriors. With a 16-point run in the third quarter, the Kings managed to hang on as the Warriors fought back in the fourth, finishing at a close 94-92. Post game press conference via Cowbell Kingdom: Sacramento Press community contributor and photographer Ron Nabity (see his work at nabityphotos.com) was there to capture the night and sent us these shots:  Opening ceremony included glow sticks for everyone. Golden State's Harrison Barnes takes a shot in the first minutes of the game. DeMarcus Cousins moves into rebound position during a free throw in the first period. Rapper Futu

Thomas Robinson has had his first YouTube moment in a Kings jersey, and better yet, it came at the expense of the Los Angeles Lakers. The Sacramento Kings rookie power forward had what the Bleacher Report referred to as a "nasty" putback dunk over Dwight Howard, who debuted for the Lakers in their 99-92 preseason loss to the Kings.  For an analysis of the game and the latest on Coach Keith Smart's roster moves, go to Cowbell Kingdom.

It was one of the ugliest starts I’ve ever seen in a Kings’ game—regular or preseason. Less than five minutes into the game, the Kings’ starting center and point guard, DeMarcus Cousins and Aaron Brooks, had picked up two early fouls each that took the team completely out of their up-tempo game. The Sacramento Kings never could recover from—at one point—a 15-point deficit, and lost to its rivals the Golden State Warriors 98-88 at Sleep Train Arena on Wednesday, Oct. 17, in front of 10,708 fans. After closely watching the position battle at the small forward spot during the Monday, Oct. 15, contest against the Trailblazers, I thought I’d focus my attention toward what is quickly becoming

In the second preseason game of the 2012-13 year, the Sacramento Kings beat the visiting Portland Trailblazers 117-100. Behind 23 points from Marcus Thornton, DeMarcus Cousins putting up 20 along with seven boards and three assists and 16 from Aaron Brooks, the Kings beat up on the Blazers for most of three and a half quarters and won a game that means nothing in the standings. What really matters in these next six or seven games for the men in purple and black? As the Kings get a few preseason games under their collective belt, the battle for a couple of starting spots seems open for the first time in quite a while. There is a great competition going on for the starting point guard sp