SacTown Royalty

Kings vs. Bobcats Prediction Thread

Prediction Contest Leaderboard page (This will not update until next Tuesday)

Below are a series of prediction questions for tonight’s game. At the end of the week, whoever comes up with the most correct/closest predictions gets crowned “Nostradumbass of the Week” in the weekly Good, Bad and Ugly post. The first four questions will be asked every game, while the 5th will change each game.

Point value for predictions are listed next to the questions. If you believe that more than one player will lead a category, you can vote for multiple players, and this is worth double points if you are correct, but zero if you are wrong. Alternately, if you only guess one player when multiple players are tied, you get zero points.

All submissions must be input before tip-off. Any submissions after tip-off will not count. You are allowed only one submission and may not change unless specifically stated.

Questions:

1. Who do you think will win the game, and what will the final score be? (1 point for guessing winner. 2 points for guessing winner and correct score of one team. 5 points for guessing winner and exact score)

2. Who will be the game’s leading scorer? (1 point for guessing scorer, 2 points for guessing exact points scored)

3. Who will be the game’s leading rebounder? (1 point for guessing rebounder, 2 points for guessing exact rebounds)

4. Who will be the game’s leading assist man? (1 point for guessing assist man, 2 points for guessing exact assists)

5. Jimmer beat out Kemba Walker for Collegiate Player of the Year. Isaiah Thomas also came out in the same draft and probably had a better rookie year than either of them. Predict the combined three pointers made, assists and field goals made for these point guards. (1 point for each correct guess, 5 points for getting all correct)

Have fun and good luck!

Sacramento City Council vote on revisited Kings arena deal shouldn’t cause any problems

Back on March 6, 2012, the Sacramento City Council approved a plan to fund a portion of a new downtown arena that’d keep the Kings in the Capital City for at least a few more decades by a historic 7-2 vote. Then the Maloofs killed the deal because, you know, Maloofs be Maloofing.

Now that there’s a chance that a Sacramento-based group could buy the Kings from the Maloofs, there’s a strong likelihood that the City Council will have to revisit that decision and vote again. But fear not: chances are it would have little trouble passing.

The two votes against the arena deal in March were Sandy Sheedy and Kevin McCarty. Sheedy didn’t run for re-election, and was replaced by Kevin Johnson ally Allen Warren. So one of the nays is now a likely aye. McCarty remains in office; note that his nay vote was a relatively surprise, and a change from the Maloofs to good, solvent owners could change his mind. (Potentially.)

Steve Hansen replaced Rob Fong on the council; Fong was a strong advocate of the arena deal, and Hansen, as an ally of KJ, is expected to be the same. There are a couple of councilmembers who voted with the majority last time but either aren’t friendly to KJ or were on the fence about the arena project — Bonnie Pannell and Darrell Fong. But the ayes could lose those two votes this time and still be clear. It’d take surprising defection, like Pannell, Fong, Warren and Hansen, to flip the script. That’s almost assuredly not going to happen. (And frankly, I’m not sure McCarty, who is ambitious, wants to be part of a coalition that kills a viable arena plan. Voting against a measure that’s obviously going to pass is a lot different in terms of optics than being the most notable voting member of the opposition.)

As for timing, I’d expect the Council to take up a plan sometime in March or very early April. While KJ is on the hook to come up with an ownership group by March 1, the city’s real case isn’t going to be made until April 18 or 19 in New York City. So that period between the finalization of the proposed ownership group and the presentation to the Board of Governors will be important to get ducks into rows, including the arena. (This is also why I think the Downtown Plaza plan probably isn’t viable — the turnaround is too tight.)

Kings vs. Bobcats: Full coverage

The Kings were awful in Memphis, but have a shot at a road win on Saturday in Charlotte.

The Sacramento Kings weren’t able to put together any semblance of a good offensive game on Friday in a loss in Memphis, but will have a quick chance to reverse that on Saturday with a visit to the Charlotte Bobcats. The game is scheduled for 4 p.m. Pacific and will be broadcast on Comcast SportsNet California and 1140 AM. (What, NBA TV didn’t want to pick this one up?)

The Kings are currently the third worst team in the West at 15-25. Sacramento has the league’s third worst road record at 3-15; the victims have been the Blazers, Cavaliers and Raptors. The Bobcats, meanwhile, are the third worst team in the East at 10-29; that also gets them the honor of being the third worst team in the NBA. (Yep, the league’s three worst teams are in the East.) Charlotte is only 5-15 at home this season, and has lost seven of 10 overall.

We’ll have fan predictions soon, a game thread at 4 and a recap to follow the game. For Bobcats info, visit Rufus On Fire.

Kings vs. Bobcats: Sacramento tries for a fourth road win in Charlotte

The Sacramento Kings weren’t able to put together any semblance of a good offensive game on Friday in a loss in Memphis, but will have a quick chance to reverse that on Saturday with a visit to the Charlotte Bobcats. The game is scheduled for 4 p.m. Pacific and will be broadcast on Comcast SportsNet California and 1140 AM. (What, NBA TV didn’t want to pick this one up?)

The Kings are currently the third worst team in the West at 15-25. Sacramento has the league’s third worst road record at 3-15; the victims have been the Blazers, Cavaliers and Raptors. The Bobcats, meanwhile, are the third worst team in the East at 10-29; that also gets them the honor of being the third worst team in the NBA. (Yep, the league’s three worst teams are in the East.) Charlotte is only 5-15 at home this season, and has lost seven of 10 overall.

We’ll have fan predictions soon, a game thread at 4 and a recap to follow the game. For Bobcats info, visit Rufus On Fire.

Kings vs. Grizzlies final score: DeMarcus Cousins abandoned in Memphis, Sacramento loses 85-69

Here’s the good news: the Sacramento Kings held the Memphis Grizzlies to 85 points in 88 possessions, and DeMarcus Cousins scored 22 points on 22 shooting possessions and added 12 rebounds, two steals and a block.

The bad news: every damn thing else as Sacramento lost 85-69 in a relative snoozer.

The Kings were just awful on offense, shooting 34 percent as a team with 17 turnovers. The offensive efficiency came out to 0.78 points per possession, which is pretty gross. The Kings hit two of 10 three-pointers and only three of the 13 players who made an appearance shot 50 percent. (No one shot better than 50 percent.) The starting backcourt (Tyreke Evans and Isaiah Thomas) shot 7-22. Their opponents Mike Conley and Tony Allen 13-27. Cousins was the only King in double figures; all five Grizzly starters scored 10 or more. The Kings had all of nine assists on their 29 made field goals.

The Kings scored just 14 points in the first quarter, 30 in the first half and 47 through three quarters. (Yes, 47 points going into the fourth.) But Memphis was bad enough on offense that victory was (remotely) conceivably until the back end of the fourth quarter.

The Kings roll out to Charlotte to face the Bobcats on Saturday. Memphis is a far better defensively (and overall) than the Bobcats, so hopefully the offense thaws substantially.