None of the sell-out crowd which packed Sleep Train Arena on Wednesday night knew precisely what was ending. Was it simply the 2012-2013 season, which ended with a loss to the Los Angeles Clippers? Yes, but was it also the very existence of the Sacramento Kings? Possibly. We’ll find out next month when the NBA Board of Governors makes their decision on whether the Kings are sold to an investment group that intends to build a new arena and breathe life into the franchise, or whether the team is sold to a different group who intend to move the team to Seattle, Wash.; kill the franchise; and resurrect the Seattle SuperSonics. The loss itself, 112-108, was relatively easy to take. The game w

When the Memphis Grizzlies played the Sacramento Kings on Sunday afternoon, April 7, the game was meaningful, ugly, exciting and disappointing. Meaningful: Hopelessly out of the playoffs, the Kings are desperate to solidify their recently improved play. Since the All-Star break, they went from 16th to first place in scoring and from near-the-bottom 29th place to 13th place in assists. The game was even more important to Memphis, who are currently seeded fifth for the Western Conference playoffs, but are only one game out of third place. Ugly: At the half, the Kings were shooting 32 percent, had only one fewer turnovers than assists, and yet were leading the Grizzlies. Certainly, there we

“A Tale of Two Seasons” The Los Angeles Clippers had a comfortable eight-game lead in the Pacific Division when they arrived at Sleep Train Arena to play the Kings on Tuesday night. On the other hand, they were fighting to maintain the No. 3 seeding in the Western Conference. The Clippers lost that fight, lost the game, and dropped down to fourth. It has been a “Tale of Two Seasons” for the Clippers. On January 19, they were 32 - 9 and riding high atop the NBA. Since then, they are just 14 - 13. A source of pride and strength for the Clippers has been their bench. Anchored by Jamal Crawford, who is battling J.R. Smith for the Sixth Man of the Year, the Clipper bench usually outscores (t

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

Kings’ point guard Isaiah Thomas is taking advantage of his increased playing time, after spending much of the season in a three-man point guard rotation. Earlier this month, Sacramento head coach Keith Smart made the decision to use primarily Thomas and Jimmer Fredette as his two point guards, fellow point guard Aaron Brooks to become an observer from the bench for the majority of the time. In fact, Brooks has tallied just 14 minutes of playing time in the last four games including three games where he did not see the floor at all. Thomas has responded by producing the same types of plays that earned him the starting job last season after he was drafted 60th overall out of the Universit

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

Monday night’s contest was a game that the Kings should have won. And, they did. The opening quarter was tight, until Thomas Robinson scored as the buzzer sounded. Still, the Cleveland Caveliers never led by more than four points, and the Kings never trailed after tying the score five minutes into the game. The bench played a key role, as three starters (Jason Thompson, John Salmons, and Tyreke Evans) entered the second quarter in foul trouble. From the bench, Robinson had one of his best games, shooting 60 percent, scoring 12 points and grabbing seven rebounds. Jimmer Fredette was back in a groove of efficiency, scoring 16 points in 13 minutes. Marcus Thronton hit most of his field goa

It’s been an eventful year here at The Sacramento Press. We said bittersweet farewells to some key staff members and welcomed new ones to the team. We will be sharing our New Year’s resolution with you later, but for now let’s take a look at what had readers clicking in 2012. In case you missed anything, or if you’re just looking to take a trip down memory lane, here are 2012’s hottest items from The Sacramento Press: 12.) Broderick: stiff drinks, big portions coming to West Sacramento by Jared Goyette In another food truck/concrete establishment match made in heaven, Chris Jarosz and Matt Chong from Whicked ‘wich food truck joined forces with Steve Hamm, Marvin Maldonado and Thaxter V.

What happens in a basketball game when each team makes 50 percent of its field goal attempts? And, each team sinks at least half its three-point attempts (all 45 of them)? And, each team converts at least 80 percent of its free throws? And, each team’s number of assists totals more than double its turnovers? Answer: you get a score like 131-127. What happens when a team has the second-most road wins in the NBA (winning a higher percentage than the leader) and plays a road game so close to its own home that its fans sometimes drown out the locals? And, that team’s road percentage (.667) is higher than the home team’s home record (.462)? And, that team has the Western Conference Player of t

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

The post-game locker room was somber. Players sat, staring into the distance. Asking them questions felt as awkward and inappropriate as hitting on women at a funeral. Keith Smart, the normally ebullient coach of the Kings, gave a moribund press conference. Perhaps for the first time, he did not even open with a statement. Instead, the coach took the podium, looked dejectedly at the assembled reporters, and mumbled simply, “You got some questions?” This was a game that might have been won. The Portland Trailblazers came to Power Balance Arena with the same 2 - 5 record as the Kings, but carried a four game losing streak. Their defense ranked near the bottom of the league, rarely holding

Photos by Ron Nabity Sacramento's James Johnson blocks a shot attempt by Portland's Nicolas Batum in the first period. Thomas Robinson watches his layup bounce on the rim. Sacramento's Jimmer Fredette tips a rebound in the first period against the Portland Trailblazers. Marcus Thornton collects a loose ball at the Trailblazers' end of the court. Thomas Robinson (right) and Jason Thompson sprint across court after Robinson scored in the second period. Portland's J.J. Hickson drives against the Kings' Thomas Robinson in the second period. Chuck Hayes directs his team during play against the Portland Trailblazers on Tuesday evening. Marcus Thornton drives the hoop during the third per

Second-year guard Jimmer Fredette is making the most of the limited playing time that he’s getting due to a deep Sacramento Kings bench. Fredette has seen his minutes cut down with the acquisition of point guard Aaron Brooks, who is now backing up Isaiah Thomas, a position Fredette assisted with last season. Fredette has appeared in three of the Kings five games, averaging just 8.3 minutes per game after averaging 18.6 minutes per game last season. Head coach Keith Smart understands the challenge ahead of him in trying to keep the guys pleased with their playing time. “It’s going to be a hard group to make sure everyone gets an equal time, and it’s not going to happen,” Smart said. “We’

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

Buckle up, ladies and gents, as it’s that time of the year again! The time to cheer like madmen and madwomen for your purple-and-black court warriors is just around the corner. The Kings kicked off their 27th season in Sacramento with their annual Media Day on Monday afternoon. The event saw many new faces in the royal purple, black and white, along with the returning core from last year, as they get ready for their second season under the leadership of head coach Keith Smart. With the influx of several new players — Thomas Robinson (first-round draft pick), along with Aaron Brooks and James Johnson (free-agent signees) — comes the chance to change up the starting rotation, or find a pu

Former Sacramento King Donte Greene is set to hold the second annual Goon Squad Classic on Aug. 10 at Cosumnes River College in Sacramento, Calif. Although it appears that Greene will not be playing for the Kings again, Greene wanted to give the fans another chance to attend his charity basketball game, the Goon Squad Classic. The game started last season during the NBA’s holdout, prompting Greene to want to give basketball to the Sacramento region, and benefit numerous charities with the money raised. “It was in high demand,” Greene said. “I got a great response from the fans, and they wanted me to do another game, and we planned it during the season to hold another one, thinking I will

If it wasn’t enough that it was Grateful Dead night and fans that bought the special ticket package got to talk to the legendary Bill Walton, members of the band and got a special T-shirt to mark the occasion. Then, the only player in NBA history to average a triple-double for an entire season, former Kansas City Royal Oscar Robertson was being recognized. How about that it was Fan Appreciation Night at the ole barn and nearly half in attendance was rewarded with some kind of prize for being a loyal purple-wearing fan. And finally, outstanding Rookie-of-the-Year candidate Isaiah Thomas was honored as this year’s winner of the team’s Oscar Robertson Triple Double Award during the game. Oh,