Kayte’s Blog: Kings Extreme Makeover
November 19, 2009 by Kayte Christensen
I have to say, 10 games into the season, I’ve been pleasantly surprised.
Coming into this season I didn’t know what to expect from this team and I don’t think I was alone. A new coach, many new players, then early injuries to two key players. Who knew after 10 games this young team would be 5-5?
There were a couple of rough games early on that made me think this was a typical youthful “rebuilding” team with an inability to close out games and inconsistency from one game to the next. Then the team earned a couple of wins and it snowballed into four straight, and I’ve reevaluated what this team is capable of.
I think Kevin Durant said it best in his tweet after the Kings beat the Thunder at ARCO 101-98, ‘This team is going to surprise a lot of teams this year!’
So far, I’m one person who has been surprised.
I knew from preseason this group of guys was going to give an all-out effort every night, but effort doesn’t always make up for inexperience when it comes to winning close games. In the loss in New Orleans, after being ahead for 46 minutes of the game, I saw youth and the mistakes that go hand-in-hand with it. Then came the game in Utah, and I saw growth in record time. I thought it could have been a fluke or a glimpse at the possibilities. Then the Kings came home the next night and took care of Golden State. Sure you can say, ‘But that’s Golden State,’ however, one thing young teams are susceptible to is relaxing after a big win instead of using it as a step in the right direction…and then they took another step and won again.
Usually with young teams, it can be one step forward, two steps back.
At 5-5 we’ve seen step after step moving forward. The best part about it is the team won games it wasn’t playing well. The Kings grinded teams out regardless of offensive flow and frequent turnover problems. It hasn’t been just one or two guys. It has been steady contributions from multiple players, night-in and night-out.
I don’t know how the rest of the season will turn out, but if the first 10 games are any indication, this team has a chance of surpassing everyone’s expectations. They’re not on the typical “rebuilding” timeline. This is the extreme makeover version! Who knows what can happen? It’s the great thing about sports. You can speculate and crunch numbers all you want, but the game has to be played. So far I think the Kings have surprised a lot of teams and I’m sure it won’t stop any time soon.
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