Newest articles on The Sacramento Press tagged as "tony parker"

Kings fade in second half, Spurs play like champions without Duncan

2012-04-20T03:06:30Z

As the season winds down, the challenge becomes: How do you keep a 20-41 team still yearning for more wins and team cohesion?

How about play the San Antonio Spurs (45-16) in front of a nearly packed house and learn from the seemingly simple way the team from Texas goes about its everyday business?

The plan worked for 24 minutes. After halftime, the Spurs decided to lay the smackdown and really show the Sacramento Kings (20-42) how the formula translates on the floor by outscoring the home team 69-42 in the second half on way to a 127-102 rout at Power Balance Pavilion Wednesday evening.

The good news was that the Kings took an early 6-0 lead on the backs of Tyreke Evans and Jason Thompson scoring and rebounding.

The bad: That would be the biggest lead the home team would have the entire contest.

After the opening run by the Kings, the balance of the quarter was played very evenly.

For Sacramento, Marcus Thornton (20 points) was on fire. He hit six of seven shots, hit two from beyond the arc and finished the quarter with 14.

One amazing highlight from the first was when, with about eight minutes left, DeMarcus Cousins snatched a rebound and threw the ball more than half the distance of the court to a sprinting Isaiah Thomas, who was being shadowed by Danny Green. Already down on defense for the Spurs was Kawhi Leonard, so, even on the great pass from the Big Cuz, Thomas was essentially already double-teamed.

Luckily for Thomas (21 points, eight assists), Thornton was trailing the play. Without looking, Thomas jumped in the air and, with his back turned to Thornton, dumped an over-the-shoulder, one-handed pass into the waiting hands of Thornton, who made a sweet reverse lay-up for the bucket.

The final play of the quarter seemed to give the Kings a lift. Cousins, after missing a layup, grabbed the rebound and the bucket to give the Kings a 29-28 lead after one.

The second quarter was nearly identical to the first with the teams taking turns leading. At the midway point of the quarter, the Kings went on an 8-0 run, which was immediately followed by an 8-0 Spurs run.

About halfway through the second, “Magic” Cousins, as Jerry Reynolds like to call him on occasion, grabbed a rebound and went coast to coast for a driving layup that brought the crowd to its feet.

Even though the Kings found themselves down by one at the halfway point, it was a great game with both teams shooting over 50 percent. The only real noticeable difference was that the Spurs got to the line 21 times compared to only seven for the Kings.

As they have been lately, the Kings came out in the third trying to establish Cousins inside. Unfortunately, he missed his first four shots which helped the Spurs go on an early 13-4 run and acquire a 10-point lead.

The Spurs interior defense is stifling. Combine that with them shooting almost 64 percent in the third and nearly 59 percent for the game, and they are a tough team to beat.

You could just feel the air come out of the team once the fourth got going. The Spurs opened with a 13-4 run that doomed the home team’s chances of pulling out a win.

A scary situation for Thornton occurred when he banged knees with Manu Ginobili (13 points, five assists) late in the third and had to be helped off the court. It was almost the same spot he was hurt a few weeks back. Word spread that he wouldn’t return, but you can’t keep an angry man down. When will he return to the game?

“Right away, man, right away,” he said. “I’m a competitor first. Pete (Youngman) asked me if I wanted to sit out, and I said no. As it went on it started stiffening up, and they told me to ice it up and try to get ready for Friday.”

He joked that he told Kings trainer Youngman to “make him a whole body armor suit next time.”

Thornton expounded on why the Spurs are such a hard matchup for many teams in the league.

“They’re tough. They’re the best team,” he said. “They’ve got players at every position, and they can go out and be productive, not just on the offensive end but one the defensive end, too. That’s the mark of a great team.”

Playing defense in the paint against the Spurs is a tough challenge for any team, as witnessed by Cousins fouling out and Chuck Hayes picking up five himself. They run the same stuff repeatedly and do it so well, you can’t effectively stop it.

“They have great spacing,” Hayes said. “Everybody knows their roles, and we always got stuck in a position where we were always behind, and that’s how we got into foul trouble.”

Hayes says the Kings can learn from the way San Antonio spreads the floor and sticks with the plan.

“Run your stuff!” he said. “Don’t break the play. Don’t try to be a hero. Run your stuff. And that’s all they do. They don’t do nothing special. They don’t do nothing crazy. They run the play.That’s why they always say it’s boring basketball. But they win. That’s all that matters.”

GAME NOTES: Thomas was acknowledged for his fine play this season by Reebok handing out an autographed pair of shoes and an “I.T.” T-shirt to everyone in Kings Row One . . . Even though he fouled out halfway through the fourth, Cousins ended with 18 points and nine boards . . . Seven players scored in double figures for the Spurs, including Leonard (13 points), Green (11 points), Tony Parker (15 points, eight assists), Stephen Jackson (13 points), Gary Neal (17 points) and Tiago Splitter (17 points, seven boards).

PHOTOS COURTESY OF:

NICK HUNTE and MARK NEEDHAM

Different Night, Same Result

2010-04-07T19:14:22Z

In one hand we have a team that has been in the playoffs the last twelve years and is getting ready for the playoffs as the regular season comes to an end.

In the other hand we have a team that will not be in the playoffs and hasn’t been in the playoffs since 2005-2006. Until the 4th quarter you would not have been able to tell which team was which.

The Sacramento Kings (24-54) hosted the San Antonio Spurs (48-29) on Bobby Jackson night at Arco Arena.

It was a night that celebrated the career of a player who brought many memories to Sacramento and their fans. One of those memories is the 6th Man of the Year award, which is given to the best player off the bench in the NBA.

Being that the night focused on the fruitful times of the Sacramento Kings past; showing old clips of the team and video of former Kings wishing luck to number 24, there was hope that the Kings would break the current losing streak.

That hope held on until the 4th quarter when San Antonio kept going and the Kings did not.

The Kings kept it close until then. Both teams scoring 18 in the first quarter and 29 in the second.

Donte Greene had a big second-quarter, scoring 12 points and making the first four shots of the quarter.

Sean May was also productive in the first half, shooting 5 for 6 and scoring 10 points.

The problem was both players finished the game with the same amount of points they scored in the first half.

It seemed as though Manu Ginobli was in control of the game.

“(Ginobli) decided to let us hang around until we weren’t going to be able to hang around anymore,” said Coach Westphal after the game. Although Ginobli only scored 5 points in the first-half, he finished strong with 11 in the fourth-quarter.

Tim Duncan and Antonio McDyess recorded double doubles and Richard Jefferson led the Spurs with 18 points.

Former King Garrett Temple also played well filling in for Tony Parker, who sat out the last 16 games because of an injury to his hand. Temple scored 15 points and had 4 assists.

“We were sorry to see him go,” said Westphal. “We were impressed with Garrett and wanted to keep him around but he saw a better opportunity there particularly for a team going to the playoffs. He caught on and he’s done a nice job for them, I’m happy to see that for him.”

Evans and Landry led the game in scoring, combining for 42 of the Kings 86 total points. Only 14 of the 39 second half points came from someone besides Evans or Landry. Three of those points came from a late three by Jason Thompson. It was the first three of his career.

Evans finished the game with 22 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists. Evans now needs 79 points and 1 rebound in the last four games of the season to reach the 20-5-5 mark.

This historic mark that is thought to ensure a Rookie of the Year award for Evans, would be the first major award given to a Kings player since Jackson won his Sixth Man of the Year award in 2003.

Evans ready for prime-time

2009-12-23T08:20:19Z

Rookie guard Tyreke Evans has taken the star-starved Kings kingdom by storm.

However, folks must calm down ~~with~~ the hype and allow the 20-year old to first experience his job environment and then learn. In fact, it's the vision of what a matured Evans could become that should provide Kings fans the most excitement.

Kings scouting director Scotty Stirling says Evans reminds him of Miami all-star guard Dwayne Wade.

"He's ahead of the curve," Stirling said of Evans, who is averaging 20.1 points, 5.2 rebounds, five assists and 1.5 steals. "And the excitement about him is what's beyond the curve."

Already he is being anointed as a potential all-star in this February’s All-Star Game in Dallas. Being mentioned among the league's top guards truly is deserved just 26 games and less than two months into his pro career.

Evans said Tuesday he entered his rookie forward to being on the same floor with the likes of Chris Paul, LeBron James and Kobe Bryant.

"I just wanted to go up against those stars on the floor."

Evans fared well against Paul in two meetings this season and goes against James and the Cleveland Cavaliers tonight at Arco. He faced Bryant during the preseason and again will meet him Saturday when the Los Angeles Lakers come to Sacramento.

Those hyper-active supporters should first check out Utah’s Deron Williams. The fifth-year, 25-year old point guard is averaging 9.5 assists, 18.5 points, was a member of the U.S. gold medal winning 2008 Olympic team and never has made an all-star team.

That’s in part because, in no particular order, of this list- Bryant, Phoenix’s Steve Nash, Dallas’ Jason Kidd, San Antonio’s Tony Parker, New Orleans’ Chris Paul, Denver’s Chauncey Billups, Portland’s Brandon Roy. Include Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant (the league’s No. 4 scorer, and Houston’s Tracy McGrady, who could possibly be unjustly voted into the starting lineup despite playing in just four games to date, and Evans likely has a slim chance of making this season’s Western Conference squad.

Evans, barring injury, likely will become a perennial all-star, probably beginning next season.

However, assistant coach Mario Elie says Evans deserves to be in the discussion.

"I believe he definitely should be in the discussion," said Elie, an 11-year NBA veteran who won two NBA championships with Houston and one with San Antonio. "He's been holding his own with anybody he's played against. He plays both ends of the floor and he's got that swagger and confidence to rise to the occasion. Tyreke can be having an off-day, but when the fourth quarter comes and we need him, he's there. You can't say that about everybody and especially, not a 20-year-old."

The 6-6, 220-pounder will remind true old-heads of players such as the late Super John Williamson and the late John Brisker. These two guards – both of whom starred in the old American Basketball Association – dominated with strength as well as skill. Evans has a knack of getting to the basket and finishing with regularity.

Kings player personnel director Jerry Reynolds said Evans reminds him of former New York Knicks guards Micheal Ray Richardson and Walt Frazier.

"His game is more like Micheal Ray but his demeanor is more like Frazier's," Reynolds said.

In fact, consider me blasphemous, Evans reminds some at times of Oscar Robertson, a former member of the franchise whom many NBA observers considered the greatest player in league history pre-Michael Jordan. Perhaps that because Evans often goes on the floor where he wants when he wants despite defenders knowing exactly what he wants to do.

It used to be said if you gave Robertson a 15-footer, he wanted a 10-footer. Give him an eight-footer and he wanted a four-footer and so on and so on.

Evans does over-dribble and can force the issue. Those penchants will decrease as he understands how defenses are playing him, how he’s taking an unnecessary beating by larger defenders and how the ability to take and make the open 15-foot shot makes him semi-indefensible.

Yet Kings observers marvel at his ability to recognize situations.

Kings assistant coach Bryan Gates said Evans was shown an adjustment during last week's victory over Washington and then made it minutes later.

"He made the adjustment and hit Jason Thompson for a basket and I think that was the most excited I'd seen him until (Monday night)."

Evans helped lead the Kings back from a 35-point third-quarter deficit to defeat the Chicago Bulls and again dominated the game's final minutes at each end of the floor.

He gets to the basket and finishes around the basket with unique footwork that he's borrowed after watching San Antonio's Manu Ginobili.

"I watched his films and highlights and then kept working on it until i got better at it," Evans said.

Evans also rebounds, defends in one-on-one situations (especially well for a rookie) and plays the passing lanes solidly with his 6-11 wingspan.

All that – and again he’s played in 26 games. He’s been annointed the season’s 2009-10 Rookie of the Year by overzealous admirers.

Let’s start with the Rookie of Almost Two Months. That’s good enough, isn’t it, for Unique Tyreke Evans, who was playing high-school hoops two years ago.