All the Celtics news you need in one convenient place.

Herald  Rondo, Smart both progressing from injury setbacks
Celtics Notebook: Pressey right on point
Globe  Marcus Smart is 'Progressing Well' with Ankle Rehab
Statistics show Celtics’ quick improvement
Advanced stats show real value of Celtics’ Jared Sullinger and Kelly Olynyk

CelticsGreen  Today's Video: Grampa Celtic, Practice Report, Lords of Gravity
CelticsBlog  Introducing Boston Celtics fans to NBA.com's SportVU statistics
Marcus Smart is working on a quick recovery
ESPN Explaining C's improbable production
Lex Nihil Novi  Walton Gang Dominates Lakers at the Forum, Go Up 1-0 in WCFs
Celtics Bit Players Stop Showtime
Red's Army  Marcus Smart’s miracle recovery continues
Celtkicks: The Anta RR2 is finally unveiled
Your Morning Dump… Where the offensive explosion is explained

Celtics.,com  Decision To Bring Back Pressey is Paying Off
CSNNE   Rondo on track to practice with C's Tuesday
Stevens: Smart improving by the day
Powell embracing opportunity to play in D-League
Surprise: Celtics are NBA's No. 2 scoring team
NESN   Celtics’ Evan Turner Shows Off His Custom-Made ‘E.T.’ Chain (Photo)
Rajon Rondo Expected At Celtics Practice Tuesday; Marcus Smart Progressing
Celtics Hub  Marcus Smart "Doing Great" After Suffering Ankle Injury

CBS Sports  Stevens On Smart’s Progress: ‘Marcus Looks Great’
Rondo On Track For Wednesday Return
Celtics Talk  Surprising depth and balance allow Celtics to compete
Mass Live  Rajon Rondo still appears on track for Wednesday return, Marcus Smart's ankle 'progressing the way it's supposed to'
Boston Celtics an offensive juggernaut? Not quite, but surprising top-10 start revealing handful of promising improvements
Kendrick Perkins fiercely reminds Oklahoma City Thunder teammates that the Sacramento Kings remain the Sacramento Kings
Space City Scoop  Houston Rockets: Why Acquiring Celtics' Rajon Rondo Is a Bad Idea


Hardwood Houdini   Celtics Roundtable: Early Season Surprises
SouthCoast Today  Celtics 7-footer Kelly Olynyk is fast maturing into a center of attention
Enterprise News

Celtics' offense showing signs of improvement
Metro West Daily News  C's Olynyk making the adjustment in second season
Norwich Bulletin  Olynyk starting to fit in for Celtics
USA Today  The voices in Kendrick Perkins’ head chant ‘MVP! MVP! MVP!’
Patriot Ledger  Notes from Monday's Celtics' practice
Alex Rodriguez  Why The Lakers Should Not Target Rajon Rondo
The Roar   Saying goodbye to Steve Nash

A 22 point lead in the first quarter turned out to be fool's gold as the rest of the game was reminiscent of a slow, painful death.

Might as well rename the team to the Jekyll and Hydes.

The Sacramento Kings were on the cusp of a statement game, jumping all over the Dallas Mavericks early before succumbing due to a lack of execution and defense. DeMarcus Cousins finished the game with 16 points, 11 rebounds and five assists, but was only limited to 29 minutes due to foul trouble, something that has been bothering him all season long. Rudy Gay led the Kings with 26 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists, but his notoriously weak handle was on full display in his 8 turnovers. Ramon Sessions had his first impact game of the season in Darren Collison's absence, with 18 points, but struggled to run the offense after the first quarter, finishing without a single assist. Ben McLemore was lights out early, hitting four threes in the first half, but went cold in the second, ending with 17 points. The ultimate result was the Kings fell to the Mavericks 106-98.

The game started about as well as you could have hoped as a Kings fan. Behind Gay's 12 points and Ben McLemore's 9, the Kings raced out to an early 24-4 lead and won the quarter 32-14. Unfortunately, it was all downhill from there. Dallas' bench came out and began digging into the lead, slowly but surely. The Kings saw their lead whittled down to only 9 points at halftime.

The situation would only get worse in the third quarter. A big Mavericks run would quickly erase whatever lead the Kings had left, feasting on the Kings' 8 turnovers in the quarter. DeMarcus Cousins was largely stymied, unable to get the ball in good scoring position and forcing his offense. Cousins would pick up his fourth foul late in the third and had to take a seat. Meanwhile, the Mavericks defense was able to effectively bottle up Gay and McLemore; McLemore was held scoreless in the third, and Gay's turnover woes became a huge factor in the Kings' implosion. Down the stretch of the fourth, the Kings were able to get Cousins rolling a little bit, but it was too little too late as they could not stop a Mavericks offense that was in rhythm and rolling.

Ultimately, the Kings really missed Collison tonight. Although Sessions played relatively well with his scoring, the Kings looked leaderless as the Mavericks made their push. The offense completely fell apart in the face of the Mavericks' defensive pressure with nobody able to execute offense comfortably. It didn't help that the defense fell apart at the same time; the Mavericks have one of the best offenses in the NBA early this season, and the Kings could not stop anything the Mavericks were running. Give credit to the Mavericks, who are a well-coached team with a plethora of offensive weapons. Dirk Nowitzki was sublime, Monta Ellis was able to repeatedly collapse the defense, Tyson Chandler was a menace on the boards, and the Mavericks bombed away from deep, led by Chandler Parsons' five.

The Kings are now reeling with their first losing streak of the season. The November schedule has been especially rigorous, but at 5-3, the team is in a much better position than was originally predicted. Its time to see what kind of mental fortitude the Kings can muster. The Kings' next contest will be against the Grizzlies on Thursday, which won't be any easier than tonight's game.

For the opponent's perspective, visit Mavs Moneyball

Dirk Nowitzki passes Hakeem Olajuwon and becomes the ninth-highest scorer in NBA history.

Big thanks to Bobby Karalla for providing post-game audio. He's a top-notch Twitter follow if you don't do that already.

Dirk Nowitzki is the ninth-leading scorer in the NBA

Rick Carlisle: "It's an unbelievable accomplishment. He's going to pass more guys and it's just a tribute to his greatness. Guys like him that live their entire life committed to excellence are able to do things like this, and that's why he's very special."

Dirk Nowitzki: "It was special to do it in front of the home crowd. They knew exactly how many points I need and then I made that one jumper at the top of the key -- I missed like two or three before that, but then I made it and they gave me a standing ovation so it was a special moment. You know, to pass the Dream is unbelievable. I was watching the NBA in the 90s. I was a huge fan and obviously when MJ retired those two years, Houston won back-to-back. He was unguardable on the block; his footwork, his skill level, his hands, his touch was second to none so I'm pretty proud."

Chandler Parsons: "It's unbelievable, man. Obviously, the Dream's a great player. Dirk is just one of the best ever. The fact that's he's played this long and his work ethic, that's the most impressing thing I've taken away."

Dirk: "It's an honor [to pass Hakeem]. Doing it at home, it was even more special. Getting a standing ovation, it was great. Hakeem, to me, was one of the greatest. I grew up watching him in the 90s. His footwork, his touch, was next to no other. I'm really humbled to keep climbing the ladder, blessed to stay healthy, and play at a semi-high level, I guess."

Tyson Chandler: "I can't say enough about -- it sounds weird, but how proud I am of him and the things he's been able to accomplish. He's the most humble player. He's an example for us all and every young player coming up of what hard word and dedication can do, and what you can accomplish in this league. He was a player who was almost wrote off early in his career and a lot of people didn't think that he was going to be able to play in this league. This organization believed in him and a few people around him believed in him and he continued to work and continued to believe in himself, and you see where he is now."

Dirk: "Every summer, I wanted to add more. At the beginning of my career I was a basic pick-and-pop shooter, and then I added more and more over the years. I had to add shooting off the dribble, I had to add posting up some. I thought Avery Johnson was one guy that pushed me in that are and to take my game to another level in other areas. As I became the franchise player every night, I'd try to do whatever the team needed and just try to get a win."

Dirk, on not ever using the Dream Shake: "I think you need a little athleticism for that move. The footwork, the shaking and baking was really my forte. I came up with a shot where you basically lean back and not be athletic at all and just hoist it up. I came up with my own Dream Shake, the white version."

Dirk: "It was great for [Holger] to be here and see it. He meant so much to me in my career and still does. I'm 36 years old and we still work on my game like I'm 21. It's fair to say that without him I wouldn't be sitting at number nine right now. If you know him, he rarely gets excited. It's hard to get a smile out of him. Maybe he was smiling a little bit. He'll probably critique me on the five shots I missed. That's just him."

Dirk: "I'm trying to catch Jabbar now, since I'm rolling. I'll probably have to play until I'm 60 to catch him. It is what it is. I don't think, at the end of my career, try one or two more years just to move up. I don't think that's anything that's that meaningful. It's really special, but I don't think it's anything to prolong my career. We'll see how long it's fun, see how long my body holds up, and how long I can play at a high level. That's not something I'll keep playing just for that."

Falling behind and then coming back from a 24-point deficit

Carlisle: "The last three quarters we really picked it up. The second half was terrific. The first half, they hit you with physical force. They've got a lot of skilled guys, they can make plays and they were knocking down shots. The good thing was that no one got rattled. We kept our poise, we kept playing, we were able to get the crowd into the game some in the second quarter, and in the second half, we knew it was going to be a grind, whistle to whistle.

Dirk: "We really had nothing going. It took us a minute to adjust to what they were doing. We did a good job getting it closer there in the second quarter."

Carlisle: "The shot [Monta] hit to end the third quarter was a huge momentum shot, a really difficult shot. It's one of those nights where you need absolutely everything that every guy can bring."

Chandler: "After coming out of that Miami game, a disappointing game, then getting down early in the first quarter, we could have easily hung our heads, but we didn't, we battled back, we were able to get a big win."

Parsons: "We stayed together. We went into the huddle, Monta pulled everyone together. Nobody was rattled. Nobody had their heads down. We just started chipping away, not trying to do any home run plays or force any bad shots. We were solid on the defensive end and kept hanging in there."

Parsons, on the second half defense: "Yeah, and it starts with our point guards. Devin, especially, was all up in Sessions. It starts with them and we have a guy like Tyson back there."

Everything else

Carlisle on bringing Tyson Chandler out early with foul trouble: "I had planned to use [Greg] Smith early to give [Tyson Chandler] a quick blow, and it's a big picture. I thought [Chandler] played with a lot of restraint and a lot of poise because Cousins is as difficult a physical matchup as there is in this league right now. [Dwight] Howard is really physical, there's some other interior guys who are, but just in terms of brute strength, along with great basketball skill. Cousins is as hard a matchup as there is."

Nelson, on his injury: "I went up, I guess I was about to shoot a layup, and I felt a little tweak. I guess we'll figure it out more tomorrow and go from there. ... I don't see myself missing time."

Carlisle, on playing Chandler Parsons with three fouls in the second quarter: "That's a coach's decision. He did a lot of good things from that point forward. ... We dodged a bullet. To get a guy his fourth, it would have been a lot tougher to win the game. He made plays, hit shots. He played with a lot of grit."

Nelson, on what to focus on the rest of the homestand: "Us. The things that's going on inside our locker room, not worrying about what other teams are doing and not relying on defensive schemes and offense, and just playing together."

Dirk, on playing Philly next: "They're not going to go 0-82, so they're going to catch somebody. You've got to be ready."

After a Sweet 16 run that at one point seemed impossible, the Bears take the court next week to kick off the 2014-15 campaign.

Unless you've been living under a rock for more than a decade, I don't need to explain to you the magnificence of the turnaround that Scott Drew and his staff are responsible for with the Baylor men's basketball program. What he took over and did with this program is, quite simply, incredible. The Bears will have a brand new look this year with multiple offensive weapons graduating, but when one door closes a new one opens. We now have an opportunity to let seasoned veterans like Kenny Chery and Rico Gathers step up as leaders for the newer guys like Deng Deng (we are going to have a TON of fun with that name) and Johnathan Motley. The Bears host McNeese State as our season opener on Friday night, so put your football helmets on the shelf for a few minutes, grab your arm sleeve and headband, and get super turnt. IT'S BAYLOR BASKETBALL TIME, Y'ALL.

Also, I credit all of the program's success to Scott Drew's positive attitude. I dare you to find me a picture of him not smiling (when he isn't coaching mid-game, of course).

If you missed it, PocketChange did me (and you, reader) a HUGE favor with the position preview post yesterday. If you want information regarding an individual player, read that. My  post is just a general preview of the squad, what to expect this year, etc. PocketChange goes directly into each position, specifies the strengths and weaknesses and does an excellent job with it. Oh, and great job with the nicknames, PC. Those are gold.

Before we get into the preview, let's cover who we lost to graduation/draft, who we're returning, and some other offseason news.

WHO WE LOST:

Our 2013-14 team had one of the biggest turning points in the program's history, when after a 2-8 start in conference play they, out of nowhere, found a way to win 7 of their last 8, setting themselves up for a run to the Big 12 Championship game and eventually the Sweet 16. The team showed immense heart and fire during its second half surge, and it was truly something special to see. Unfortunately, we had to say goodbye to a few key players from that squad.

• G Brady Heslip - Yes, sadly, Mr. Three-Point Goggles had to leave eventually. After bouncing around practicing with a couple different NBA teams, Brady was selected 11th in the D-League draft by the Reno Bighorns, a Sacramento Kings affiliate. Brady will make it splash wherever he ends up flinging his green and gold.
• F Cory Jefferson - CJ was selected as the very last pick of the NBA draft by San Antonio, but was traded to the Brooklyn Nets the same night. Jefferson made the squad but hasn't seen a ton of action yet this season.
• F/C Isaiah Austin - When Isaiah was diagnosed with Marfan Syndrome, a genetic disorder that affects connective tissue, just days before the NBA draft, he received the devastating news that he could never play basketball competitively again; however, his faith and positive attitude have inspired thousands of people across America, and he still got to fulfill of his dream of being selected in the NBA draft. Austin has been assisting Coach Drew getting the team ready for this season and always has a home at Baylor. We love the guy.
• G Gary Franklin- G4, GForce - whatever you call the guy, we'll miss him. Gary was never a standout player for the squad but was always reliable to make plays when we needed him. He was a pretty solid sharpshooter from the arc and we could rely on him to make some important plays.

Those are four cogs of the machine that the Baylor basketball program has been over the past couple years. We will miss them but wish them nothing but the best!

WHO WE RETURN:

Well, we "return" quite a few players, but here are just some of the guys you'll enjoy watching this season.

• G Kenny Chery - Chery averaged 11.5 PPG last year and made 34 starts. His mid-range game is spectacular, and he'll be the focus of a ton of highlights this year if he has the season we know he's capable of. Kenny had an assist percentage of 33.34% last season, which is a pleasing statistic that only justifies how well he handles the ball.
• F Rico Gathers - Rico is a beast. We all know this much. As one of the team's more physically dominant players, he brings tons of defensive prowess and returns as one of our leading rebounders from last season (6.4 per game, 14.3 per 40 minutes).

LOOK INTO HIS EYES AND I DARE YOU TO TRY TO PLAY BASKETBALL AGAINST HIM.

RICOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

• F Royce O'Neale - Royce averaged 7.1 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2.9 assists last year. Royce's chemistry with Kenny will definitely be visible early in the season, and hopefully they carry some momentum together into conference play. Of his strengths, I think Royce's passing will be the biggest this season. He's had an assist percentage (estimate of field goals made that a player is at least partially responsible for assisting) of around 20% in each of  his last two seasons and averaged over 4 AP40 (assists per 40 minutes) last season. Royce can shoot fairly well, but I'd like to see him feed the ball a lot this season.

MISCELLANEOUS OFFSEASON NEWS

Court Renovations!

The Ferrell Center has hosted Baylor basketball since the 1988-89 season, but the court will look a little bit different this year.

The new Ferrell Center floor is looking SICK! Thanks @BaylorCoachMac for the inside look! #FillTheFerrellpic.twitter.com/yscJklcyWj

— Baylor Bear Pit (@BaylorBearPit) August 6, 2014

Of the changes, the most obvious is the swapping of the classic interlocking "BU" midcourt logo to a more modern, spelled out "BAYLOR". I really like the decision to do this. It matches the front of the new uniforms (which I'll get to below), and it just looks nicer, in my opinion.

Next, the new Big 12 logo has been added inside the paint, right above the free throw line. I love this. I've been a fan of the new conference look since day one, and it looks super sweet in green and gold.

Some text wrapping around the court has been altered, but nothing significant. There's still a big green and gold "BAYLOR BEARS" at both ends of the court. Look on the side of the court and you'll still be reminded of those two national championships our amazing ladies won in 2005 and 2012.

Uniforms!

Probably the biggest news from this offseason is that the team's uniform provider is no longer Adidas, but now Nike. So, we have new uniforms.

First, the home whites:

First look at our new @Nike home whites. #SicEmpic.twitter.com/LMx3BhEpHv

— Baylor Basketball (@BaylorMBB) October 10, 2014

Second, the road greens (my personal favorites):

Since @BUFootball is wearing green today, let's reveal our new @Nike road greens. #SicTCUpic.twitter.com/sE149NzbrP

— Baylor Basketball (@BaylorMBB) October 11, 2014

And finally, the black alternates:

First look at our new @nike black alternate uniforms. #SicEmpic.twitter.com/BdYnLswqf7

— Baylor Basketball (@BaylorMBB) October 13, 2014

Yes, the switch to Nike means we got rid of the electricity uniforms. Those received so many mixed reviews over the years, and, to be honest, I never hated them as much as some of you, but I'm happy to see them go at this point. I may be a uniform snob, but until chrome uniforms are a thing I can never be content.

New Student Seating!

First look at new student seating being installed near south goal at Ferrell Center. #SicEmpic.twitter.com/9buY6UBvFY

— Baylor Basketball (@BaylorMBB) October 29, 2014

Pretty sweet. In summary, the FC is #MegaTurnt.

SEASON PREVIEW

Time to actually preview the season! For those of you who are less in tune with the basketball team, I'll summarize this 2014-15 squad for you: We lost a TON of offensive firepower, but still have quite a few guys who possess defensive physicality and athleticism. Essentially, if we can score, we can win.

Baylor has made Sweet 16 runs in three of its past five seasons (2010, 2012, 2014), two of those furthering into Elite Eight runs. Making the tournament this year is certainly doable, but it's going to be difficult. We play basketball in the toughest hoops conference in America.

Here's a look at this year's schedule.

Personally, I think this team can have a pretty successful year. We lost the offensive powers I mentioned, and we also took a hit losing our only 7'0" player in Isaiah Austin. The problem is, we open conference play with a giant slap in the face of Oklahoma, Kansas, and Iowa State all in an 11 day span. That's an incredibly difficult slate of games and it will be a true test considering how the team will have played up to that point. If this squad can click early in the non-conference schedule and carry some momentum from the Vanderbilt/TAMU games into conference play, I really think we have a shot. Five of our nine conference losses last season were decided by 10 or fewer points, and two of the losses that weren't were to top ten teams in Iowa State and Kansas. So that's something positive to look forward to this year.

For a team that started out 2-8 in Big 12 play last season, a 9-9 finish was nothing short of spectacular. This year will be equally, if not significantly more, difficult than last. Not only do you have the constant emperor of Kansas sitting on its throne, but new successful programs like Iowa State and Texas have taken advantage of Baylor recently. Kansas State is no slouch, nor is Oklahoma. I firmly believe that the Big 12 is the toughest basketball conference in the NCAA. We have to adjust after losing our 2013-14 leaders in field goals made, three pointers made, and free throw success. Not to mention we also lost the team's best rebounder in Cory Jefferson.

Who to watch for?

Keep your eyes on JuCo transfer point guard Lester Medford. A two-time All-American at Indian Hills CC, Lester will assist Chery in the backcourt (literally) and hopefully pick up some of the scoring load that guys like Brady Heslip left off. Lester averaged over 15 PPG last year at Indian Hills (knocking down 46% of his shot attempts and going 61-152, or 40.1%, from beyond the three-point line) along with 96 steals. His assist-to-turnover ratio was a dismal 1.9; that's 215 assists to 112 turnovers. If Medford is going to be a reliant offensive weapon, we can't have 112 turnovers from him in one season. It's not a giant red flag, but we should at least take note of it. The guy gets buckets, and he'll be immensely fun to watch this season.

Seemingly a fan favorite, Ish Wainright should have a breakout sophomore campaign. Although his shooting was rather underwhelming, he has a positive attitude that is contagious to the rest of the team and possesses massive physicality. The guy is huge. At 6'5" and 245 lbs., if he can get his shots to fall, he could develop into a PHENOMENAL player over the next three years. I wouldn't say we're all expecting him to become LeBron this season, but we certainly anticipate his progression this season.

What do we do to replace the loss of big men in Isaiah Austin and Cory Jefferson?

          NCAA Basketball

(via StatSheet.com)

This chart shows a statistical impact of each player by basic categories of statistics. You can look at it yourself, but to use an example, we lost about 25% of our rebounding from last season in Cory Jefferson and a few others. That's nothing extremely significant, but we definitely need to chip away at that this season and be physical in the paint. My primary worry regarding this team is that allowing offensive rebounds will create so many preventable points for opposing teams. Yes, we still have DENG DENG and Johnathan Motley to eat up some boards, which we REALLY need them to do. How can you not get bajillions of rebounds when your name is DENG DENG?

DENG. DENG.

DARTHBEAR'S PREDICTIONS:

Overall: 21-9

Conference: 10-8/11-7 (in that area, at least)

Tourney appearance: Check.

Ceiling: Sweet Sixteen.

***NOTE*** I said CEILING. I genuinely believe that our ceiling is the Sweet 16. We're making a transition right now, saying adios to some familiar faces and handing the torch to lesser known stars-to-be such as Chery or O'Neale. If this team rides the momentum it can certainly build throughout the season, we can absolutely work some magic in the spring.

GET READY. GET EXCITED. GET TURNT. AS MUCH ENERGY AS WE'RE FEEDING THE FOOTBALL TEAM (WHICH IS AWESOME BECAUSE YOU KNOW I'M #READYFOROSU), WE NEED TO GET BUCKETS THIS YEAR. SO. MUCH. SIC 'EM.

Last night's loss against the Dallas Mavericks was a spectacular one, with Sacramento giving up a 24 point second quarter lead in a very short amount of time.  The Mavericks used two big runs to get back into and eventually take control of the game: A 17-2 run at the end of the second quarter and a 17-4 run in the early third quarter.  The Kings weren't able to recover after that point, and couldn't get on any runs themselves, never scoring more than 5 consecutive unanswered points from the early second quarter on.

So how did it all fall apart?

Dallas' first big run came at a crucial juncture when both DeMarcus Cousins and Carl Landry left the game with three fouls each.  Cousins and Landry are Sacramento's only two post presences, and both have been big net positives for the Kings when they've been on the floor (Cousins especially).  Without Cousins and Landry (Thompson was also in foul trouble), the Kings were forced to go deeper into their big man rotation than they've had to all year, playing Derrick Williams and Ryan Hollins.  Williams picked up three fouls in the span of a minute, all on Dirk Nowitzki, sending the Kings into the penalty with over half the quarter remaining.  Dirk, who up until that point had been relatively quiet, was able to get into a rhythm from the line and then began hitting shot after shot.   Once that happened, the rest of the defense fell apart as the Mavericks took advantage and started finding open shooters like Chandler Parsons.  Together, Nowitzki and Parsons combined for 19 of Dallas' final 26 points of the quarter, and only a big Rudy Gay three at the end of the quarter saved it from being a complete disaster as Sacramento still held a nine point lead.

That run by the Mavericks should have woken the Kings up but it was as if they were still punch drunk coming out of the locker room.  The Mavs continued to hit hard and fast, and the Kings were forcing it offensively.  Dallas played DeMarcus Cousins tough and got into his head a little bit, especially once the whistles stopped blowing.  It became every man for himself instead of the cohesive unit we saw in the first quarter.  It didn't help matters that shots that were falling in the first half (like McLemore's threes) stopped falling.  Rudy Gay began trying to do too much, and as we saw last year when Rudy would run the offense for large periods of times (notably when Isaiah Thomas was out towards the end of the year), he gets in trouble with his high dribble and other decision making.  The Kings as a team had 22 turnovers on the night, and 17 of those came in the second half (Rudy and Cousins combined for 12).

Sacramento has definitely taken a step forward this year, but it's nights like yesterday that remind us we still have a long way to go.  As we saw with Darren Collison's injury and whenever Cousins gets in foul trouble (which is happening all too often considering he leads the league in fouls), the depth on this team is lacking, and even just one key cog being out place is enough to make the wheels fall off.  Ramon Sessions was very capable offensively, but his solution to Sacramento's scoring woes was to shoot rather than get others involved (0 assists), and his defensive work left much to be desired.  Sacramento's defense as a unit takes a big nosedive when the bench unit has come in so far this year.  The Kings need some stoppers in that unit because right now they have none.  Whereas last year the Kings were looking for talent anywhere they could and thus shipped Luc Mbah a Moute for Derrick Williams, this year they need more guys like Mbah a Moute who can step in and reliably fill a role.  This team has enough talent, especially now that Ben McLemore is coming along nicely.

There's a lot to be excited about as a Kings fan.  This is a Kings team finally on the cusp of being good again.  This is still a team that has gone 5-3 and probably could have won a couple more games than that if they played as a unit, rather than as a collection of individuals.  But this isn't a finished product, nor should we expect it to be.  It's time to learn from this loss and move on.  We've got a long season ahead of us.

The Kings today upgraded the status of Darren Collison from doubtful to questionable for tomorrow's game against the Memphis Grizzlies, the finale of this four game road trip.  Collison sat out with stiffness in his left shoulder in Tuesday night's loss to the Dallas Mavericks.

While Collison is listed as questionable, he did spend the day practicing and sounds hopeful that he'll be able to give it a go tomorrow in Memphis.

From Jason Jones earlier today:

Darren Collison (left shoulder) practiced today and will play tomorrow at Memphis barring a setback

— Jason Jones (@mr_jasonjones) November 12, 2014

Collison said he couldn't lift his arm yesterday without a lot of pain and discomfort, said he can play through the discomfort level now.

— Jason Jones (@mr_jasonjones) November 12, 2014

Darren Collison talking about his shoulder: "Today I feel a little bit of pain but I can tolerate it."

— Jason Jones (@mr_jasonjones) November 12, 2014

Collison has proved to be one of the most important players for the Kings early this season on both ends of the court.  Here's hoping that there are no setbacks and that he'll be ready to go tomorrow.  If not, he'll almost certainly be available when the Kings return home on Saturday against the San Antonio Spurs.

What to look for in the matchup vs. Sacramento.

2014/15 NBA Season
	vs
2014/15: 7-1 (3-0 home)		2014/15: 5-3 (3-2 road)
November 13, 2014
FedEx Forum, Memphis, TN
7:00 PM CDT
Fox SportSouth / 92.9 FM ESPN
Possible Starters
Mike Conley	PG	Darren Collison
Courtney Lee	SG	Ben McLemore
Tony Allen	SF	Rudy Gay
Zach Randolph	PF	Jason Thompson
Marc Gasol	C	DeMarcus Cousins
2014/15 Advanced Stats
93.9 (25th)	Pace	97.4 (8th)
101.3 (19th)	OEff	103.1 (14th)
94.8 (4th)	DEff	101.7 (13th)
48.3 (23rd)	RebR	55.1 (1st)

Kings vs Grizzlies coverage

Opponent's Blog: Sactown Royalty

Injuries

Kings: Darren Collison (shoulder, questionable)

Grizzlies: (none, unless you count Jordan Adams and Jarnell Stokes' pine butt)

Know Your Opponent

2013-14 was a year of transition for the Kings, as they continued to develop young talent like Ben McLemore and DeMarcus Cousins as well as acquiring a stock-plummeting Rudy Gay from Toronto.   In the offseason, the Kings controversially let scoring machine point guard Isaiah Thomas walk in free agency, replacing him with veteran distributors Darren Collison and Ramon Sessions, as well as acquiring wing shooter Nik Stauskas in the draft.

The early results have been good for the Kings.  They've been a more efficient team in virtually every aspect.  After ranking in the bottom third in the league in most statistics (excluding rebounding) in '13-'14, Sacramento is in the top half of the league in nearly every category, and have taken the rebounding up a notch, showing dominant rebounding ability as a team.

Darren Collison missed the last game with a shoulder injury, and if he's a scratch again expect Ramon Sessions to run the point.  Also, while Jason Thompson starts, Carl Landry often plays heavy minutes at the 4 depending on matchups.

Points of Grizzly Emphasis

Possessions

Early in the season, the Grizzlies have been good at avoiding turnovers (10th in the league) but not very good at rebounding the ball (23rd in rebounding rate).  Conversely, the one thing Sacramento struggles with is turnovers (24th in the league) while leading the league by a fairly wide margin in rebounding rate.   While Marc and Zach have remained effective rebounders, Kosta Koufos and Jon Leuer have much been less effective off the bench than the combo of Koufos and Ed Davis last season.

Marc watch

The Grizzlies' big men - Randolph and Gasol - struggled to score in the Laker game, putting up a combined 19 points on 7-20 shooting.  While Zach has had his usual ups and downs, Marc has experienced a mini-slide.  After averaging a dominant 22 PPG on 55% shooting the first 5 games of the season, Marc has averaged 11 points on 34% shooting in the 3 games since.  As always, Marc does other things that positively impact the game, but the dropoff is something to watch.  Marc is averaging 36 minutes per game early in the season, and you wonder if those miles could add up and hamper his effectiveness.

Boogie & Rudy

DeMarcus Cousins and Rudy Gay are the biggest threats in the Kings lineup, each averaging over 22 points per game fairly efficiently while being among the best rebounders at their positions.  The Grizzlies may key on each defensively and try to make the rest of the Kings beat them.  The Kings are more well-rounded than in the past though, and can make you pay in a number of ways.  It will be interesting to see what strategy Coach Dave Joerger employs to limit the Kings' offense.

Why you should watch this game

There are a lot of reasons to watch Grizzlies-Kings.   Two of the fastest starting teams in the NBA will face off tonight.  The Grizzlies haven't always looked great, but they're 7-1.   When you feel like you're struggling and you've got the best record in the Western Conference, that's a good thing.   Rudy Gay will be back, of course, and has been playing the most consistent ball of his career in Sacramento.   This projects to be a close, hard-fought game.  Most of all, though, watch it for the matchup of two of the best centers in the game in Cousins and Gasol.

The Kings suffered a major collapse in their previous game against the Dallas Mavericks, giving up a 24 point second quarter lead.  There's still a chance to make this a successful road trip however, as a win in Memphis tonight will see the Kings coming back 2-2, a fine record against quality opponents.  Sacramento will also likely have Darren Collison back which will help. Tonight's action tips off at 5:00 pm this afternoon on Comcast SportsNet California and on KHTK 1140.

3 THINGS TO LOOK FOR

1. Memphis matches up exceedingly well against the Kings at every position.  Gasol can guard Cousins by himself, Z-Bo can overpower our Power Forwards, Tony Allen and Courtney Lee can handle Gay and McLemore, and Mike Conley can attack Darren Collison on both ends.  The Memphis bench is also better than ours.  This is a tough, tough opponent, 3rd in defensive rating and an even tougher matchup for the Kings in particular.

2. The Grizzlies do have weaknesses, and funnily enough they're similar to Sacramento's.  The Grizzlies are a poor three point shooting team, shooting the 4th least attempts in the league (although they've converted a good percentage).  They also don't have much rim protection (28th in blocks), depending on their defense keeping opponents out of the paint in the first place.  If Sacramento can make Memphis into a jump shooting team, that will help considerably.

3. Ramon Sessions started in place of Darren Collison on Tuesday in Dallas and while he still had issues on defense and running the offense, he finally found his shot, scoring 18 points.  With Collison's return to the starting lineup, the Kings bench unit could really use a scoring punch like what Sessions provided against the Mavs so hopefully his scoring is here to stay.

MATCHUP OF THE GAME

DeMarcus Cousins vs. Marc Gasol

DeMarcus Cousins has had a rough road trip in terms of opponents.  There are so few big men that defend DeMarcus Cousins well and Cousins has seen three of them this week, ending with perhaps the best of all in Marc Gasol tonight.  Gasol also happens to be the most offensively capable in terms of both scoring and passing.  Last year in two games against the Grizzlies, Cousins shot just 10 for 31 (32.3%) from the field, his lowest mark against any opponent.  The Kings are a worse team when Cousins isn't at his best, and Marc Gasol and the Grizzlies are not going to give him anything easy.

PREGAME LIMERICK

In Dallas we had a collapse,
a momentous failure perhaps.
But it's a new day,
let's play the right way,
and avoid an embarrassing relapse.

PREDICTION

Kings 144, Grizzlies 37 after the entire Grizzlies team aside from Zach Randolph accepts DeMarcus Cousins' double dog dare to eat a ghost pepper after the first quarter.

P.J. Tucker loves the Clippers.

Who Loves The Hornets?

A look at last season's numbers will tell you that Isaiah Thomas is trending in the right direction. In the Kings first game against Charlotte on December 17th, Thomas hoisted up 23 shots in a 21 point effort, his fourth most attempted field goals all of last season, and connected on just 8. When the teams met again on January 4th, IT again scored 21, though this time on 9 of 17 shooting. Thomas also doubled his assist total, from 4 to 8, in the second matchup.

Who Hates The Hornets?

They're not the favorite opponent of Gerald Green. The second game was unremarkable. Green tallied 5 points and 5 rebounds in 21 minutes of play. The first game was hypothermic. 5 of 15 from the field, 14 points, not good, but not head-turning bad. 0 of 8 from three, now you've got my attention. The frigid performance was Green's worst from behind the arc all of last season.

Who Loves The Clippers?

P.J. Tucker is fond of the Clippers. Last season Tucker logged double digit rebound totals in 15 games, 3 of those came against Los Angeles. On March 4th he also totaled 18 points, tied for his third highest output of the season, on 8 of 11 shooting.

Miles Plumlee was especially efficient last season against Los Angeles. In three games against the Clippers, Plumlee shot 15 of 22 from the field, averaging 10.6 points in 24 minutes. He ripped down 23 rebounds in total against LA, 8 on the offensive end, and committed just 3 turnovers across the 3 games.

Who Hates The Clippers?

Hate might be a strong word, but behind the arc the iron was certainly unkind to Goran Dragic. Collectively he shot 2 of 14 from three in four games against the Clippers. He also turned in one of his worst performances of the season against Los Angeles, a 2 of 11, 0 of 5, 15 point clunker on April 2nd.

Who Loves The Suns?

Me. You. Blake Griffin is a fan. Last season, Griffin's top shooting effort came against the Suns. On March 10th, Griffin connected on 14 of his 16 shots and scored 37 points in a 112-105 Clipper win. Griffin torched the Suns in under 32 minutes, one of just four games he fouled out of last season.

While with the Jazz, Marvin Williams put together a pair of nice games against the Suns last season. On November 29th in Phoenix, Williams led the Jazz with 18 points on 7 of 11 shooting and did not commit a turnover in a 112-101 Suns win. A day later back in Utah, Williams hit 6 of 11 shots for 14 points and pulled down 6 boards in a 112-104 Jazz victory.

Who Hates The Suns?

Phoenix isn't a preferred foe for Al Jefferson. Charlotte's 6-foot-10 265 power forward averaged 10.8 rebounds per contest last year. In two games against the Suns, he pulled down just 6 in each game. Shooting in the second game didn't go well either. Jefferson shot 4 of 15 against Phoenix. His .267 shooting percentage was his second worst effort of the season.

I don't hate the Suns. You don't hate the Suns. Blake Griffin might hate the Suns. At least on the glass. Last season the four time All-Star, who averaged nearly 10 rebounds per game, failed to top more than 6 in four cracks against Phoenix. The Suns were the only Western Conference opponent that Griffin failed to log double-digit rebounding totals against last season.

Any dough left after your Suns Swag purchases? Check out the one day fantasy basketball leagues they have going on over at Fan Duel. It's $2 to play. Two bucks!

Here are the specific rules. They include this: "In order to deposit money to play paid entry games you must be able to represent and warrant that you are not a resident of any of the following states: Arizona, Iowa, Louisiana, Montana or Washington."

You're reading this because you're a Suns fan. And you probably live in Arizona. If so, you should still check out the many free games they have to play. If you're a Washington resident, we're doing you a favor. You were probably going to draft Dana Barros and Michael Cage.

There has been this unofficial time clock for many of us (yours truly included) as it pertains to our beloved Sacramento Kings becoming a playoff team again.

The band of brothers and sisters that are shoulder to shoulder with me have set the date as Autumn, 2016, coinciding with the opening of the downtown arena. It has a nice symmetry to it, and I'm betting that it would meet with the approval of those of us that see patience as a virtue.

Further, I would hazard a guess that the majority of Kings fans could survive another two years in lotto land if it meant a 50+ win ball club in 2016. Not that it will make for an easy two years, mind you.

While 2016 is certainly a pragmatic and sensible target, it overlooks one major issue: Two years of DeMarcus Cousins' current deal will have been spent on non-playoff basketball.

This is not to say that the first two seasons of Cousins' contract would be written off as a total loss. If the team continues to head in the right direction, those two seasons would surely be seen as being positive and beneficial. But it would be a bit of a waste of what is shaping up to be a great value to contract.

Cousins' current contract needs to be properly defined here. While it has been described as a "max" contract, there are two components to his contract that make it less than a max deal.

First, it is Cousins' second contract, and his first non-rookie contract. This is why/how Cousins will make an average of $16.4m over the run of his contract, while Chris Bosh and Carmelo Anthony will make $24m-$25m a year. Cousins (along with Paul George and John Wall) is tied for 28^th in individual player salary for this year. At $13.7m, he's proving to be a very nice value to contract.

Second, his contract runs four years and not five (like the 5/$80m deal of Wall, for example). When the Kings first signed Cousins to his early extension, this was a source of relief to many fans (yours truly included). Now it appears that it may have been a mistake, as having Cousins locked up that fifth year (especially with a new CBA on the horizon) would be a nice little security blanket. Note: This is not to say that the Kings erred in not giving Cousins a five year deal - he may have preferred the four year deal and the earlier access to the mega-third contract. But whatever the reason may be, Cousins will be back on the market 20% earlier than he would have been had a five year deal been brokered.

What this all means is that Cousins provides great value to contract, enabling the Kings to spend money elsewhere throughout the roster. But this also means that come 2018, Cousins will become very expensive to retain, and that it will become more difficult for him to provide large value to contract (not results to contract, but value). Come 2018, the Kings will no longer have the contract "edge" in Cousins to re-invest elsewhere.

True, there will be a new CBA by then. But this will be an apples to apples thing. There will be more money for every team to spend. Caps will go up, but so will contracts. So the notion that everything will be alright because of a new CBA is fool's gold, in my opinion.

This does not mean a death knell for the Kings. They may make up that lost "edge" elsewhere. There is no one under contract to the Kings in 2018, so there is a long, long time in determining that roster. A second round pick that delivers core rotation minutes provides edge. First round picks (especially those outside of the top five) can provide edge. The Omri Casspis of the world can provide edge, as can the eventual Eric Morelands. A player that is signed on the relative cheap that takes his game to the next level provides edge (fingers crossed, Darren Collisons of the world).

But what it does mean is that if the Kings are not playoff contenders until 2016, they will have spent two years of DeMarcus Cousins' contract edge, with no games in May to show for it.

This is certainly tough terrain for the front office to negotiate. On the one hand, they inherited a tire fire of a roster. On the other hand, only Cousins and Jason Thompson will remain from that roster effective 2015. Every other 2015 contract (Carl Landry, Collison, Ben McLemore, Nik Stauskas, Ramon Sessions, Ray McCallum and Eric Moreland) is a result of a signing or draft pick that has no association with inherited contracts. Even the stretch of $900k on Wayne Ellington is a result of the Kings electing not to devour all of that contract this year.

So should we attach this team's playoff hopes to coincide with the new arena (as I have)? If the new arena was scheduled for 2015, would we move our playoff hopes up? If the arena was scheduled for 2017, would we move our playoff hopes back? Given that 2015 was more or less a clean payroll palette for the new front office and that it will represent their third year at the helm, is it reasonable to expect playoff contention by then?

There's an and-1 here, and it is the elephant in the room (albeit a sleeping elephant at the moment). How long can the Kings be a non-playoff team before DeMarcus Cousins gets his Kevin Love on and demands to be traded? If Anthony Davis is looking down at Cousins in the standings, what kind of impact will that have on Cousins? If the Splash Brothers go deep into the playoffs for the next couple of seasons while the Kings fight 9^th place or lower in the West, how will that affect Cousins?

My guess? The Kings need to play meaningful games into at least the middle of March this year, and they have to be at least down to the wire for a playoff seed in 2015-16. They will have to have a solid and affordable core by 2018 to avoid having to fire sale talent to re-sign Cousins, as well as providing Cousins with desire to re-sign.

New ownership and management has only been on the job for a little over a year. 90 regular season games, when you think about it. They will overtake Andres Nocioni and Darrick Martin in a couple of weeks for games as a King. They deserve the time to get this ship righted. But due to the timing of DeMarcus Cousins' contract, time is of the essence, and the clock is ticking.

This week we're talking Kings and Mavericks, Boogie, Ryan Hollins, and much more.

The Sactown Royalty Show is back!  This week I'm happy to be joined by Jason Gallagher, who writes for Ballerball, Grantland, Rolling Stone, and Mavs Outsider.  We started out to discuss the Sacramento Kings' collapse against the Dallas Mavericks, but ended up talking about so much more.  Jason is a Mavs fan, but covers the league as a whole and we covered a variety of topics.

We talked about DeMarcus Cousins and Darren Collison, we talked about the Mavericks, the Rockets, Ryan Hollins photo shoots, and much more.  It was a really fun conversation, and I think you'll enjoy it.

This episode was recorded Wednesday night, so when we discuss "last night", we're talking about the Kings/Mavs game on Tuesday.

Like the show? Subscribe to us on iTunes or on Stitcher! Leave us ratings, leave comments, let us know how we're doing. Ratings and comments on iTunes really help us out with promoting the show. And of course, continue the discussion in the comments below.

And a big thanks to Audible.com for supporting us. To get your free 30-day trial and a free audiobook, sign up here. Using that particular link gets you the special offer, and let's them know you heard about them through our show.

As always, thanks for listening.

The Kings lost in the most depressing fashion imaginable.

The Sacramento Kings have gotten into a bad habit.  Once again the Kings jumped out to an early lead on the Memphis Grizzlies, leading by as many as 26, only to lose on a desperation play as time expired.  On a controversial play (more on that in a minute), the Kings allowed the Grizzlies to score on an inbounds play with 0.3 seconds left in regulation, and lost 111-110.

The controversy stems from a possibly-tipped inbounds pass.  The Kings players and Grant Napear firmly believed that Ryan Hollins tipped the inbound pass, meaning the clock should have started and Lee's basket would have been waived off.  The refs couldn't see a clear angle confirming the deflection, and one replay appears to show space between Hollins' hand and the ball.  The refs decided the play would stand, and the Grizzlies won.

Now, I didn't personally think the ball had been deflected.  I was too busy noticing that Rudy Gay and Jason Thompson were both guarding Marc Gasol while Courtney Lee was wide open to convert a beautiful layup.  Gasol had screened Gay, and rather than switch, Thompson was still covering Gasol.  Perhaps Michael Malone had told the Kings not to switch.  Who knows.  But it was a terrible defensive breakdown.

Ultimately, whether the refs made the right call or not, the Kings didn't deserve to win the game.  The execution in the fourth quarter was terrible.  The game's flow disappeared as the refs began calling it tight on both teams.  DeMarcus Cousins picked up his first technical of the season, and I won't be at all surprised if it gets rescinded.  Lest we blame the refs, Mike Conley also picked up a ticky-tack tech in the fourth, his first of his entire NBA career.  According to reporters sitting with Mike Conley Sr., it was Jr's first technical dating back, ever. College, high school, ever.  So, yeah, the refs may have gotten a bit whistle happy as they attempted to keep the game from getting too chippy.

Ultimately, we're seeing the Kings go through the growing pains that are common for young teams on their way up.  The Kings are proving they can hang with the big guys, they just haven't learned how to play with a big lead.  It's normal, but no less frustrating.

For the opponent's perspective, visit Grizzly Bear Blues.

What.just.happened?? Stay with me...

The following was the recap I was working on before the most amazing thing I've ever seen happened:

The sparse crowd at FedexForum gave a warm welcome to another Rudy Gay return Thursday night, and the Grizzlies themselves brought out the welcome mat for Rudy and Co. as they played disinterested basketball and allowed the Kings to sprint out to an early lead in the game.

Besides the effort of Memphis, a questionable start for Tayshaun Prince over the recently en fuego Courtney Lee left the offense hamstrung until Kosta Koufos and Jon Leuer brought a little spark off the bench. Kosta would get into some quick foul trouble, however, and the Grizzlies struggled to find anyone else who could play with urgency and precision.

Memphis halfway whittled down Sacramento's lead before hafltime, but a lazy finish squandered some opportunities to put themselves within a comfortable range for a second half comeback.

The Kings would come out with a purpose in the 3rd and quickly get the Grizzlies into foul trouble, driving to the basket at will and snagging rebounds with similar ease. Outside of the valiant scoring combo of 19 pts from Zach and Marc in the quarter, it didn't seem as though Memphis had the firepower to fight their way out of the corner they'd backed themselves into.

Much of this game was summed up by the final play of the 3rd quarter when Darren Collison took four remaining seconds and awkwardly split two defenders to heave up an underhanded three pointer that was destined to find net. It extended the Kings lead to 15 going into the final period, a deficit the Grizzlies likely couldn't overcome.

The following is what I tried to put into words when the Grizzlies started on their journey towards history:

Ummmmm, BUT THEN... the 4th quarter happened. And the spirit of Memphis crept into the Grindhouse like a predatory phantom. The shots started falling, the Wendigo started howling, and the Memphis Grizzlies remembered that they reside in Hoop City, USA.

I'm not sure how to explained what I just witnessed, folks. It wasn't as if someone for the Griz suddently went atomic, it was Grit and Grind at its absolute finest. A very slow boil came to a head in the final minutes of the games, and Memphis clamped down defensively to leave themselves a 1 point deficit with 0.3 seconds to inbound the ball. Dave Joerger would make a brilliant call that saw Vince Carter lobbing a pass towards the rim as a cutting Courtney Lee would make the catch and put in a reverse layup as time expired to give Memphis its biggest comeback victory in franchise history.

The Grizzlies are 8-1 and in high spirits after stealing one from Sacramento and protecting their home court once again.

More to come on this amazing game from GBB!

In one of the craziest games in Grizzlies history the grit and grind squad were able to move to 8-1.

Grizzlies Report Card

Grizzlies 111 - Kings 110

Coach Dave Joerger:

B. There were some serious problems with the rotation throughout the game. Starting Tayshaun Prince made no sense and seriously hurt the Grizzlies in the first quarter when they needed Courtney Lee with the starters. Not playing Kosta Koufos and barely playing Jon Leuer after both played solid first half minutes was nonsensical. Everything was redeemed in the fourth quarter though. The two Vince Carter threes and the game winner were all off of gorgeous plays that made you think for a second that you were watching the Spurs.

Starters

Mike Conley: 39 MINS|22 PTS|8-17 FGS |11 ASTS|+13

A+. What a game by Conley. He had so many great moments. The floater in the lane to bring it within two, the layup to tie and then the leaning three to go up one. Conley seemed to be the only Grizzly starter in the first two and a half quarters. Foul trouble kept him out of the game in the first half, but he played well with it in the second half. Conley was the reason the Grizzlies were able to claw back from 26 down.

Tony Allen: 24 MINS|0 PTS|0-5 FGS|4 REBS|-10

D. The first three quarters Joerger struggled to keep Allen on the floor. His defense showed up at the end of the game when the Grizzlies needed it the most.

Rudy Gay: Wait a minute. You mean to tell me that guy in a Rudy Gay jersey keeping the Grizzlies in the the game in the fourth quarter played for Sacramento?

Tayshaun Prince: 11 MINS |2 PTS|1-2 FGS|1 ASTS|-20

D. He tried. Not sure if he can still hang with Rudy at this point in his career.

Zach Randolph: 34 MINS |17 PTS|6-13 FGS|8 REBS|+3

B-. I have never seen Zach Randolph as disinterested he was in the first half. He went into the half with 0 points, 0 rebounds and 0 defense. Things changed in the second half with Randolph getting to the line, trying on defense and using his strength to get open under the basket for easy shots.

Marc Gasol: 37 MINS |20 PTS|5-13 FGS|7 REBS|-2

B. Marc Gasol was abysmal in the first half. He couldn't guard Demarcus Cousins or lacked the intensity that it required. Everything changed in the second half. He played the whole half and was awesome on both ends. Affecting shots on defense and getting to the free throw line to keep the Grizzlies competing were the best things he's done in two games.

Bench

Courtney Lee: 36 MINS |16 PTS|6-9 FGS|3 ASTS|+15

A+. What a game from Courtney Lee. THAT GAME WINNING SHOT WAS AMAZING. He proved to the one person that thought him starting was a bad idea that they were in fact wrong. This team is completely different with Lee hot like he was in the second half tonight.

Vince Carter: 17 MINS|11 PTS|4-5 FGS|4 REBS|+20

A. The two threes that Carter hit in the second half. Both came on plays that made me wonder where that has been all season.

Kosta Koufos: 11 MINS |6 PTS|3-4 FGS|1 REBS|+3

A. I see not one reason Koufos didn't play in the second half of this game. His defense on Cousins was better than Gasol's and he was competent on offense. He should have played in the second half no doubt about it.

Jon Leuer: 14 MINS|8 PTS|3-4 FGS|3 REBS|+0

B. THE RETURN OF JON LEUER HAS FINALLY COME UPON US. This was the most confident Leuer has looked this season and he was productive because of it.

Beno Udrih: 9 MIN |4 PTS|1 REBS|-13

B. Udrih was on pace to have another good game until a flying Tony Allen elbow to the neck knocked him out for the rest of the game.

Quincy Pondexter: 8 MINS|3 PTS|1-2 FGS|1 ASSTS|-5

C. The eight minutes he was on the floor weren't the most memorable minutes he ever played.

DNPs

Jordan Adams: DNP Coach's Decision

Jarnell Stokes: DNP Coach's Decision

Player Performance Rankings: Grizzlies vs. Kings

If you haven't heard by now, the Kings plan to file an official protest over the result of their most recent loss in Memphis, likely over both clock operating error (the shot clock hadn't started until after Lee shot) and whether or not Ryan Hollins tipped the ball (no definitive camera angle has proven it yet).

Personally, I believe it will be incredibly unlikely that the NBA will overturn the result of the game, but even if they do, the Kings have bigger problems on their hands.  In the grand scheme of things, one win doesn't matter.  There are flukey losses and wins every year in the NBA.  Refs make a multitude of bad calls throughout every game, and almost none get overturned.

What is a problem for Sacramento is the fact that yet again, they let an enormous lead go to waste and couldn't find a way to win despite it.  The Kings lost to Dallas despite a 24 point second quarter lead, and this collapse was even worse, as they were up 26 at one point and were still up by 17 points with just over 7 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.

DeMarcus Cousins said it best after the game:

"It had nothing with the tip-in (by Lee), it had nothing to do with the missed free throws," said Kings center DeMarcus Cousins. "It had nothing to do with that last-minute segment. It had nothing to do with that. It had everything to do with the second, third and fourth quarter."

"We can't continue to make the same mistakes," Cousins said. "We can't blame the refs. We can't blame the clock man. It's on us. We have to learn from our mistakes and we have to become a better team. We can't keep putting ourselves in the same situation. We're going to continue to get the same results."

The Kings are trying to become a good team, and they've shown moments where it looks like they could be.  The 5-1 start to the season was not a fluke, as they gritted out some tough wins against tough teams.  They also found themselves in control in both of their last two games against very good teams on the road.

But then the old Kings came to play and the trust and teamwork they showed in getting the lead completely disappeared.  The Kings haven't responded very well to adversity in these last few games, and it's cost them both of them.  The fact that the bench unit continues to lose momentum for Sacramento has also not helped matters.  I wrote after the Dallas game that depth and consistency were a problem for the Kings and that showed again in the Memphis game.  In a game that Sacramento lost by just one point, DeMarcus Cousins was +19 and every other starter was at least +7.  Meanwhile every single player on the bench had a negative +/- of at least -7 (not including Ryan Hollins who played just the final defensive possession).

The final play itself was smartly designed by Memphis but was still botched by Sacramento.  With 0.3 seconds left, the only real way Memphis could hurt the Kings was a play at the rim.  If Memphis wanted to take an open jump shot with 0.3 left, let them, that's fine by me.  Open layups on the other hand are unacceptable, and it was embarrassing how open Courtney Lee got on the final play.  How the Kings didn't have someone designated to stay near the rim on that play, I don't know.

This was a tough loss to swallow, no doubt about it.  But even if the NBA somehow overturns the result (which again, is incredibly unlikely to happen), this was not a game the Kings should take pride in.  Instead, this was another learning moment and one that will hopefully stick.  For now, it's time to suck it up and move on to the next.

Head coach Dave Joerger was on his A game against the Sacramento Kings, at least in the fourth quarter. Here are his three best play calls of the game.

Dave Joerger has been in and around professional basketball organizations for a long time, but he is still learning all the ins and outs of being a head coach in the NBA. In this just his second season as Memphis Grizzlies head coach, he has made his fair share of decisions that leave you scratching your head. But when he is on his game, he uses his tremendous basketball mind and experience as a long-time assistant to draw up beautiful plays. In short, this ain't his first rodeo.

He had three plays late in the fourth quarter that stood out above all the rest. The timing of the calls was perfect and the execution flawless. Here are the breakdowns of all three plays (hammer, elevator doors, and ATO game winner).

4th Quarter (5:23) - Hammer

To begin the play, Conley brings the ball near the top of the key, and Vince Carter pops out to the left wing to receive the pass.

Immediately upon receiving the pass, Carter begins the ball reversal to the opposite side of the floor by passing to Marc Gasol at the top of the key. Meanwhile, Conley begins his cut into the lane.

When Gasol receives the ball, he immediately swings it to Courtney Lee on the opposite wing. Conley sprints up the middle of the lane to set a back screen on Gasol's man before cutting directly towards the sideline.

Lee delivers the pass as Conley has already begun his curl around Zach Randolph for a baseline drive. Randolph angled his screen well to allow Conley to get around but make it difficult for the trailing defender to pursue at the same time. If Randolph sets a flat screen, that makes it much more difficult for Conley to curl around, and the slightest slip up could derail the play.

As Conley drives baseline, Gasol steps up to set a back screen, or what is knowns as the hammer screen in this set, on Carter's man as Carter flares to the corner.

Conley delivers the pass to Carter for a wide open corner three. BANGO!

4th Quarter (0:11) - Elevator Doors

Late in the game with the Grizzlies down two, Carter inbounds the ball to Conley as he flashes above the three-point line. Conley continues to circle to the opposite wing.

Conley then lobs the ball to Gasol in between the elbow and the top of the key. That triggers the beginning of the play.

As soon as he delivers the pass, Conley cuts to the middle of the lane under the basket. Lee circles up from the corner and receives the pass on the wing from Gasol.

Once Lee receives the pass, he waits for the rest of the play to develop. Randolph is already in position to set a down screen on the right side of the lane, but Gasol still has to saunter in position to set a down screen on the left side of the lane. Once they are both in position, Conley performs a zipper cut directly up the middle of the lane.

Conley slips right between the screens of Gasol and Randolph before they rapidly slide together to "close the doors."

Conley receives the pass from Lee at the top of the key, and he's seemingly wide open for the shot. His man is slowed down by Gasol's screen, and there is no way he will be able to recover in time to contest the shot. However, it just so happens that DeMarcus Cousins is tough to pin down for long. He quickly snuffs out what is happening and fights through Randolph's screen. He closes out quickly on Conley, and the play briefly appears in jeopardy.

Many guards might panic in this situation, but a composed Conley handles Cousins' presence with ease. He pump fakes, and Cousins goes flying by. He then rises, shoots, and watches as the ball sinks through the net. It wasn't the shot you necessarily want as far as mechanics go even though Conley is historically exceptional at shots with a high degree of difficulty. It's hard to argue with the result though. Elevator doors remains a play called frequently by Joerger, and that won't change after the game against the Kings.

4th Quarter (0:00) - ATO Play

When the ref tosses Carter the ball, Conley and Randolph both move to the side of the floor where the ball is being inbounded. They are to serve as decoys on the play. Their movement does not seem like a big deal, but them drawing their defenders far enough out of the paint so they couldn't sag to help on the lob was crucial to the play's success.

Lee then steps up from the low block where it appears he will set a basic back screen on Gasol's man. Another underrated element of the play is Gasol and Lee kind of holding each other. This makes the defense nervous because they will have to react to any potential rub plays. It's kind of similar to a gimmicky hug play the Pelicans ran some last season.

After getting the back screen from Lee, Gasol takes off as if he's headed to the basket while Lee waits around the elbow for the next action.

While heading towards the rim, Gasol makes a diagonal cut back to where Lee is set up. Lee begins to move to the opposite sideline away from the inbound pass as Gasol steps up and fills the space left by Lee at the elbow. The timing on this has to be just right, because it is imperative that Lee's man get detached from his hip. The play is helped by the fact that Rudy Gay is completely ball watching.

As Gasol fills the space where Lee was, he screens Rudy Gay and catches him by surprise. Gay has no idea where Lee is. This allows Lee to curl back around Gasol and head to the rim. The Kings defense is now reeling.

As Lee curls to the rim, the Kings are forced to make quick decisions. There was an apparent lack of communication, as it looks like Jason Thompson expects Gay to fight through the screen and catch up with Lee. Thompson continues to follow after Gasol, who smartly continues to act like he's getting the ball by flashing to the free throw line with his hands raised. His flash also allows him to continue to move Gay away from the play. Gay and Thompson slightly bump each other as they try to recover, and they are done for from that point.

Carter throws a near perfect inbound pass, and Lee lays it in for the win as the buzzer sounds.

Hat tip to you, coach Joerger.

After one of the worse Grizzlies performance ever seen in the first quarter –the defense was nonexistent and Rudy Gay and DeMarcus Cousins were just scarfing down bears without compassion– the Grizzlies fought their way back into the game in the last quarter to get an unbe-f***in’-lievable win (their eighth of the season) and remain kings of the west.

Final Score: Sacramento 110 - Memphis 111

RECAP & *NOTES

Pre-game

Earlier at the morning shoot-around getting ready for the game, Marc Gasol shared some words with Rob Fischer: "We know we can play better. The record is good. We have to keep playing."

It's basketball time. FedEx Forum, Memphis, Tennessee. The Sacramento Kings (5-3) against the Memphis Grizzlies (7-1).

The Kings averaged 111.2 points (*That 1.2 points would have been also the difference in this game) during a previous and surprising five-game win streak. But their two recent loses at Oklahoma and Dallas didn't build any momentum for them coming into the Grindhouse, home of the NBA's best defensive team, and where the Grizzlies have won the last 17 games played.

• Starting 5 for the Kings: Darren Collison, Ben McLemore, Rudy Gay, Jason Thompson, and DeMarcus Cousins.
• Starting 5 for the Grizzlies: Mike Conley, Tony Allen, Tayshaun Prince, Zach Randolph, and Marc Gasol.

1st Quarter

• The game began with a crazy so-called alley-oop pass from Zbo to Tony, and the notes in my notebook say: "Really Memphis? Are we gonna start doing alley-oops now, after several years of good old fashioned style of basketball?" (*Yeah, it's funny how things work out sometimes. See more about this later).
• Cousins made the first bucket showing Marc that he has also good shooting range.
• Then Zbo missed, Gasol missed, and Allen missed another. After that, we all knew a slow start was coming.
• Rudy made his first bucket of the game testing the speed of Prince and the blocking ability of Randolph. (*Damn it Rudy! How smooth and talented you are!)
• Marc converted two free throws and woke up the scoreboard for the Grizzlies.
• The crowd realized that a slow start was already established at the FedEX when the following non beautiful sequence took place: Cousins for two / Marc misses / Zbo misses / Tony misses / Pete Pranica says Grizzlies are shooting 0-7 / Collison hits another two / Tony misses again / Cousins &1 / Kings 11-2 / Joerger time-out.
• Memphis defense keeps almost not playing during the whole period, and painful things like these continued to happen while points for the Kings kept coming and coming.

• On the other side, Pondexter hit an incredibly long 3 (*I sincerely thought that triple was going to be a game-season changer for Q, but nope, I think it wasn't) which let Memphis "only" down by 22 (33-11) with more than two minutes remaining in the quarter.
• Nothing more good happened, as the first quarter ended 38-16 for the Kings, while Rudy (13 points) and DeMarcus (a dozen) were bullying the Grizzlies.

2nd Quarter

• The quarter didn't start in the way that hopeful Grizzlies fans were expecting: "C'mon! We're angry bears now, let's defend with everything we've got." The truth was that Landry scored two and then Sessions made also two free throws. And the score just showed an extremely painful 42-16. (*That minus 26 it's history now, but good Lord, it wasn't easy to fight against it).
• But some signs of Grint & Grind coming alive were seen in the arena, and the bench definitely wore the big boy pants. Koufos was excellent and Leuer showed he still can make some buckets.
• A 9-0 run for the Grizzlies was pure beauty for the attendance. 44-26 for a minus 18 with more than 08:00 minutes remaining. There was still hope. (*Take it to 15, Grizzlies. Oh, please, take it to 15).
• Awesome Koufos' defense = scoreless Cousins in the quarter. Plus basket assisted by Conley = Sacramento 45, Memphis 30.
• The most used starting lineup during this season (Lee In, Prince Out) returned to the game and well, "ni fu ni fa", what it means not good not bad, so the point differential kept fluctuating (minus 15 - minus 22) and the game became a bit boring less interesting. (*Understand me. It was already 3am and my European sofa is quite comfortable).
• (*Wake up dude!) Tony Allen almost Knocked Out Beno Udrih! (*Oh Beno, why did you do that crossover to Tony while wearing a Kings jersey? Tony never forgets... Just kiddin').

Halftime: Sacramento 62 - Memphis 46

• Top scorers at the half: Gasol and Conley both with 9 points and Koufos with 8. And for the Kings: Rudy 15, Cousins still a dozen, and Collison with 10 points.
• Some good news: Grizzlies won the quarter 24-30, and the bench outscored Kings' 28-11 in the first half. And bad news: the minus 16 wasn't pretty and the rebound battle didn't look good at all (25 to 16).
• I suppose that the break in the looker room wasn't very relaxing neither, judging the angry face of the assistant coach Bob "6'10" Thornton while he answered Fischer's question:

"What do you need to do more in the second half?"

"Play defense. We actually have to guard somebody. We have to play harder. Play tougher. Show up and be Memphis basketball."

(*Nailed it, Bob).

3rd Quarter

• 09:45 remaining in the quarter and first bucket of the night for Randolph. (*This is your quarter Randolph).
• Prince's first basket in the game too. Right after, Rudy answers smoothly with another one.
• 07:40 remaining and still minus 19 (73-54). But something happened. A little tension fighting for the rebounds featured by Randolph and Cousins. No big deal. Just some hugs here and there, as usual in the paints. The referee saw it in a different way. So personal fault on Zbo. Then Zbo got real angry cause he thinks that Cousins also hugs him real hard in the other zone -which it's true and DeMarcus knows it as well, but still...- Then Zbo says four words which can be heard by everyone in the arena and also by every Grizzlies fan around the world watching the game in a laptop: "What the f***, man!" And BOOM! Technical fault too. But those words defined completely the game at the moment, and changed not only the Zach's inner energy but also the mood in the whole FedEx Forum.
• Here we go. Zbo with a long 2 / Allen steals the ball / Zbo again with another bucket in the paint... The crowd started to feel it. It was a 20-points deficit still, but faces of the Grizzlies players had changed. Defense began working. Kings called Time-out. Grit & Grind was finally ON. (*Welcome to Memphis, Kings. This is "THE COMEBACK").

• 91-76 (minus 15). 29-30 for the Grizzlies in the third.
• 11 points in the quarter for Zbo, Marc with 8, and Lee with 7.

4th Quarter

• Victories for the Grizzlies are never easy, and keeping in mind that, the last quarter started with a 3-pt from the corner by Stauskas.
• Conley answered with a two-points bucket (*This is your quarter Mike).
• Then, a suppodsedly fun thing it'll never happen again: Mike getting a technical. (*I think it's fun. What do you think, DeMarcus?) This match was becoming special. And this is just one of the reasons why I said before that the "WTF, man!" said by Zach, was the real game changer. 8 minutes remaining and the Kings led 99-83.
• Don't laugh too much Cousins. There is your technical too [EVIL SMILE].
• Welcome to Vinceland! (*Don't mix up with "Vineland", the Californian postmodern novel, although this game is gonna be a kind of Californian postmodern thing too) 07:12 minutes... CARTER for 3!!! (-14) / 05:18 minutes... CARTER for 3!!! (-8) / (*Pete Pranica's voice ON) "Carter with the steal, taking away from Rudy Gay" / 04:16 minutes... CARTER for 3!!! (-4).
• 2 minutes. Beautiful pass by Gasol to Randolph, and two. 106-104 Kings still winning. Defensive Zbound, pass to Conley running the floor, and the Grizzlies matched the game with 1:32 minutes remaining. Rudy missed the shoot. Gasol got the rebound. Zbo missed.
• 1 minute. McLemore for 3, in and out. Gasol got the rebound again. Conley's bomba for the lead, missed. Cousins against Gasol, damn! Kings 108-106. Memphis time-out with 24.6 seconds remaining.
• 10 seconds. Conley, a 3 for the lead... YESSS!!! (*Oh my God, I have no words for that triple). Memphis 109-108. Kings time-out.
• Cousins against Gasol. The fault is called. DeMarcus made both free throws. Kings winning 110-109.
• 6.5 seconds.Zach Randolph for the win... nope. 0.6 seconds remaining. McLemore got the defensive rebound, and personal fault.
• What???? 0.6 seconds remaining, Kings winning by one point, and two free throws for them. (*Game over? I can't believe it).
• McLemore on the line. Misses the first one. Misses the second one too. And quick defensive rebound by Zach. Memphis Time-out.
• 0.3 seconds. Memphis ball. And the amazing happened...

Postgame

• (*Best regular season game I've ever seen. I love the Grizzlies. All Heart. BRAVO guys!!!)
• Mike Conley's words after the much-more-than-sweet win: "WE DESERVE THIS". (*Hell Yeah).

On to the next one: Grizzlies vs.Pistons, Nov 15th at FedEx Forum, Memphis, TN.

The Sacramento Kings would have loved to have come out of this recent road trip better than 1-3, but even still there was some good that came of it.  By far the best thing that happened was that we started to see Ben McLemore grow into the player we hoped he could be when we drafted him with the 7th pick last year.

Coming out of college, McLemore was drafted to be an athletic shooter, someone who could hypothetically win both a dunk contest and a three point contest.  The reality was much more sobering.  McLemore got lost on defense time after time in his rookie year, and his vaunted shooting was nowhere to be seen.  For the year, McLemore shot just 37.6% from the field and 32% from three.  Those are abysmal numbers.

The start of this season didn't offer much hope either, as in the first five games of the year he was shooting even worse than last year.  That poor shooting overshadowed the fact that defensively, McLemore was actually doing a pretty good job, which by last year's standards was a substantial improvement.

Here's NBA.com's defensive tracking data on Ben so far this year:

In almost every area, Ben is holding guys to less than their normal FG%, and is forcing all opponents into just 40.3% from the field.  Compare that to last year's numbers, where he was allowing a very poor 48.9% from the field.

Eventually though, a guy has to start making his open shots.  It all seemed to come together over these last four games on the road for Ben, starting last Friday in Phoenix.  With DeMarcus Cousins fouled out of the game, it was McLemore who hit some tough clutch shots for the Kings in both overtime periods, and it was McLemore who stymied Eric Bledsoe.  These last four games, McLemore averaged 16.3 points on 54.8% from the field and 50% from three on 6 attempts a game.  Those numbers aren't sustainable, but they do show that McLemore can be consistent over a stretch of games, something he was not able to do last year.  Last year, McLemore only had one stretch all year where he scored 5 or more field goals in at least four consecutive games (like he did on this road trip), and only one of those games had him shooting 50% or better (which he did in all games of this trip).

Ben McLemore is far from a finished product and he's still got a lot to prove.  But it's safe to say that he's making great strides in the right direction, and that's phenomenal news for both him and the Sacramento Kings.

RidiculousUpside.com helps basketball fans preview the 2014-15 NBA D-League season with its overview of the Reno Bighorns.

How did the Bighorns do last season?

Reno finished 2013-14 with a winning record at 27-23 and made the playoffs before eventually losing in the opening round to the eventual champion Fort Wayne Mad Ants. Reno had a lot of talent on last year's team which is proven by the fact that six players who were with the team last year are playing professionally overseas for the 2014-15 season.

How good can Reno be this season?

Tough to say how "the system" will work in it's initial season with Reno, however Reno has certainly accumulated the talent to seemingly make it work. Expect to see 3-pointers rain supreme and most of them will be taken by Tajuan Porter, David Stockton and Brady Heslip as the guard trio for the Bighorns. Reno has played two preseason games so far this season with a combined 131 3-pointers attempted -- 131! Last year Reno finished 15th out of 17 teams for points per game and pace. This season you can expect them to be top-3 in both categories as this system is anarchy at it's finest.

Expect to see wholesale substitutions regularly and while most are focusing on the offensive side of "the system", you will notice that Reno will be running full court presses on defense as well.

Most likely call-up?

I'm not sure how he's going to fit in "the system" but you cannot teach size and Sim Bhullar has that in spades at 7'5. He played at New Mexico State last year and went undrafted before being signed and then waived by the Sacramento Kings. He's on the Bighorns as one of their affiliate players, however he can be signed by any team with interest and it will be interesting to see who takes the shot.

Most intriguing potential assignee?

Eric Moreland has actually already been assigned to the Bighorns from the Kings, but he still gets my vote. The only other intriguing guy I would put here would be Nik Stauskas, however he is in the rotation with the Kings getting about 16 minutes a night so far. Moreland is an athletic power forward who played at Oregon State last season. He averaged 8.9 points, 10.3 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per night for the Beavers and he will bring that same energy and excitement to the Bighorns.

Can "The System" work at the pro level?

I am really excited to see "the system" in full effect at the professional level. It worked at Grinnell but the pro game is a completely different animal, so I'm all-in on seeing the effect this will have on the league. Perhaps the most interesting thing will be if teams submit to the pace, or whether they try to administer their own style on the game and take the Bighorns out of their game plan. As I mentioned earlier the Bighorns have taken 131 3-pointers over their first two preseason games and after their game with the Stampede head coach David Arseneault Jr. spoke with Gino Pilato of D-League Digest and had this little nugget for us.

"I'd like half of our shots to be three point shots, and to be perfectly honest I feel like we passed up on some tonight."

HALF?! They took more than 50 three point shots that game and he wasn't satisfied. Get ready for the excitement of "the system" people!

Ah, good. My inflammatory headline got you to click onto the article. Spoiler alert: This post is not written in an effort to disparage Darren Collison

As the Sacramento Kings continue on the long, long road to rebuild, the focus has somewhat appropriately been on the team's lack of even average contribution from the starting power forward and shooting guard spots. This is not to blame the incumbents, Jason Thompson and Ben McLemore, as they really are the best options on a roster that still possesses some gaping holes.

But the hidden hole on the roster is when it comes to its third best player, a title currently held by Darren Collison.

This is not meant to be derogatory to Collison. After Cousins and Gay, he is the best player on the team. Aside from some spotty shooting (Collison is behind McLemore and Ramon Sessions(!) in points per shot), Collison has exceeded almost every reasonable expectation. But can you really envision Collison being the third best player on a playoff caliber (Western Conference, mind you) team? Because I am having a lot of trouble with that.

Let me make something clear here. Darren Collison is not the problem. And I don't think that he is miscast as the starting point guard on this particular team. But if he is going to be your starting point guard, you better have at least three superior players around him. If he is your third best player, he is as miscast as Jason Thompson is as your starting power forward.

Let's take a look at the top three players for every NBA team (and Philadelphia):

Now, I’m not going to pick nits here. Arrange the players in whatever order you prefer. And feel free to add anyone that I may have overlooked. The purpose of this exercise is to count how many teams have a better third player than Darren Collison.

To my count, there are a lot more teams that exceed the Kings at the third best player slot than don't. Probably 18 teams (subjectivity rules here!), and a handful teams (Boston, Denver, Detroit, Orlando, Minnesota, Phoenix) that might be a push. I only count the LA Lakers, Milwaukee (for now), New York, Philadelphia, and Utah (for now) as being worse at the third best player position.

Again, subjectivity rules. You might have a few more teams that you would slot at or below the Kings. Fair enough.

Let's take a look at only the Western Conference:

Alright, let’s call Denver a push (though a healthy Gallinari or Arron Afflalo at his best would probably leave Collison in the rear view mirror). Better than the Lakers (can’t write that enough). Push with Minnesota. Push with Phoenix. Better than Utah.

That leaves the Kings around 10-13. Sound familiar? Now look at the teams that most favor for the playoffs (I went with Las Vegas odds to win the 2015 World Championship to whittle the field down to the top eight in the Western Conference) :

Contracts notwithstanding, you can see the talent gap between the third best player on these teams and the Kings third best player. It is a gap that does not exist as much when you look at each team’s best overall player (Cousins is at least in the conversation), or even their second best overall player (though Gay is definitely on the lower end).

The play of Darren Collison in this young season has been one of the better things about this Kings team. He is looking to be a tremendous value to contract, and an invaluable (if not irreplaceable) piece of the current roster. The Kings languish almost every time that he is not on the floor. But this is fool’s gold as long as Collison is the third best player on the roster. His talent and productivity will likely not be enough to get this team to the next level.

The Kings still need to improve their talent at the top of the roster. And the odds are as good as not that this will not happen earlier than this coming off season. The team is indeed making progress. Most of us would have jumped at a 5-4 start before the season began, and would have thought it impossible after the home opener. But that next big step upward will not occur until there is an infusion of top-end talent.