In a Legend’s Footsteps

We came into ARCO Arena against the Suns on Sunday against my Twitter competitor @THE_REAL_SHAQ. I think NBA.com mentioned it was a Twitter competition between @jtthekid and @THE_REAL_SHAQ. I don’t have as many tweeps as him because I’m not a legend like he is but hopefully I can come in second in tweeps in the NBA or lead all rookies. That’d be a good accomplishment.

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Vlade Divac Jersey Retirement Quotes

Former Sacramento Kings Center Vlade Divac

“First of all, this is all for you guys. I am so excited to be here today. Thank you to the Maloof family and the Kings organization. Maybe you have heard a lot of times and I will repeat myself again, this is my best six years I spent in Sacramento. It is the best of my career. It is a big honor to have my name and number up in the rafters with all those legends, including Chris Webber, a good friend of mine and teammate for those six years. I am so happy to be here and I will take the time at half-time to thank our fans and everyone who supported us. We had a lot of fun and a lot of good memories.”

Are you emotionally ready for tonight:
“I hope so. It’s starting to hit me. I was so busy the last couple of days and didn’t really have time to think what this means for me, my teammates, all the coaches we had here and my family is happy to be here with you guys.”

The experience as a whole:
“It is interesting going around the city and to hear people still talk about our group of guys and had a lot of fun. It is wonderful. You love something you left behind you that people still remember. I had the opportunity to go to the Kings practice facility and I saw a couple young guys that are going in a good direction. They need support and a little time and I am sure the Kings will be back again with the success they had here in the late 90’s and early 2000’s.”

On any disappointments:
“I played only six years here. It would be nice if I played more here. Everyone talked about how good a team we had and did not win the championship. Chris (Webber) and I were talking during his ceremony, and we all feel the same. We played as champions and I have no disappointments at all. We just had fun playing the game we loved.”

On how he found out his jersey was going to be retired:
“Geoff Petrie called me. Back then it was emotional and I was excited. It is something that shows the positive and will look even better when I look back on my career. I never dreamed, even as a kid, that my jersey was going to be up there.”

On what they do for retiring players in Serbia:
“No, they do other stuff. Well, we usually we play a farewell game. I did something different. I brought all my friends around Europe and the United States. We had a concert, we had dinner and had a wonderful ride through my hometown and I actually donated all my gear, medals and everything I won throughout my career to the museum of my hometown. Try to show kids from a small town that it really does not matter where you are born. Even if you are from a small city, you can achieve what I achieved.”
If he saw Alonzo Morning’s retirement ceremony last night:
“No, I was so busy. But people told me it was very emotional. Hopefully I can be stronger and hold up. But I cannot promise you.”

On his favorite moment:
“It would be, surprisingly, where we lost game 4. That moment in the locker room, I would relive again. We showed so much belief in each other. Everyone did not believe we could come back and win. And we came back and won game 5. It shows we were so close and a championship team.”

On being recognized and having his jersey retired:
“It is an honor for all my teammates and all my coaches. It shows that we did a great job of playing basketball and had commitment to the Kings organization and the city of Sacramento. I travel around the world a lot. People still talk about our team and the way we played. And it wasn’t just Sacramento; we were an international team which is even better.”

On being recognized for something more than just basketball:
“Well, people recognize something you try to do and, even more, send a message to other athletes and to kids that we are blessed to have a job that we love and enjoy. Playing sports. At the same time we have to give back to our communities and be role models.”

What’s next for Vlade:
“Oh, well, John Wetzel has a great life. I should just go follow him.”

On hearing people talk about him around the city:
“When people talk about me and Sacramento, it’s not all about me. It’s all about my teammates and my coaches, people that were around me. We were so close and that is why we had so much success and people recognize that.”

Postgame Quotes: Kings vs. Hornets

Head Coach Kenny Natt

On the way the game played out:
“It’s just really sad to fight the way that we fight, to have gone through the diversity we’ve gone through all season in playing games, trying to come together as a unit and play hard. We finally do that and then little things just caused us to lose a basketball game tonight – it’s just very unfortunate.”

“That’s a very good basketball team we played against tonight. It just shows that the guys that we have are still hanging in and playing hard, playing together. We’re doing a much better job of executing and screening the basketball, moving the basketball, and passing. So yes, there’s a lot of positive to that from that standpoint because as I said, it’s a very good team that we played and we could’ve bowed out from the start. We’ve gotten off to some slow starts but again tonight we came out and really held our own. There were a lot of encouraging things that we saw out there tonight. It’s just unfortunate that we weren’t able to pull the game out.”

“We’ve had a lot of pain this year – it’s hard. A loss is a loss in my eyes and we’ve had a lot of them. Obviously it hurts a little more from the standpoint of playing as hard as we did, hitting that shot that Beno (Udrih) hit and then not able to execute a simple defensive assignment on our end of the floor at the end and its the ballgame. In that sense it is a little more painful, but it’s another loss.”

“I just believe that sometimes when the team is flowing we’ve made some great plays at the end of the game – (tonight) guys had a flow going; Francisco (Garcia) hit a big three. Sometimes you call a timeout and you break the rhythm of a team – I thought at that point we were set in our position, so why call a timeout – just go ahead and run with it. Fortunately enough we got a good look at it as I said. From the offensive standpoint we did a great job tonight – obviously our defense has to get a lot better and game playing discipline.”

Spencer Hawes

“The way we played that game and went back and forth with them and make plays like we did down the stretch. We thought we had it and that just shows you it’s not over until “she’s singing.” We have to wait until the final buzzer.”

On the last play by Rasual Butler:
“It’s just a breakdown, a defensive breakdown.”

On his emotions on Vlade’s retirement:
“It was great to see him and all the other guys come back and have him get the recognition he deserves for what he did for this town and especially for this community. Not even as a basketball player. I think the Kings honored him for his greater good than what he just did on the court. Part of it you watch as a fan and think that it is great that he is getting it and as a player part of you watches it and hopes that may be me one day.”

Rashad McCants

“We knew exactly what happened. If it wasn’t us putting ourselves in the hole early, its us making a foolish play at the end, to leave us saying that we should have done something different. Championship teams have never and will never have regrets on the floor. If you lose by a one second shot, it’s not because you made a mistake, it’s because they made a great play. It is the opposite for us.”

On Beno’s last shot and his confidence:
“It does a lot (to help his confidence), but it doesn’t really help it too much when you go down the court and we lose the game on the end. It really doesn’t mean anything.”

“It shouldn’t be a long term thing. I think it is pride, passion and determination to win with your teammates. When we have a scheme that we do and everyone understands how to do it. There shouldn’t be any reason why a guy hits a three wide open.”

On seeing the support for Vlade does it have effect on their play tonight:
“Most definitely, the crowd was into the whole game. I think we needed it and we rallied with it. We used their energy to take us all the way to the end.”

–
Hornets Coach Byron Scott

On the last play designed for Rasual Butler:
“Yes it was. I knew everyone would really focus on CP (Chris Paul). I just tried to make him a decoy and I told Rasual ‘your probably going to be wide open so get ready to shoot it.’ You just go for the win; we didn’t want to play overtime. He got a great look obviously. When I saw it leave his hand I had a good feeling it was going in.”

On being surprised Butler was open:
“Yes. I told David (West) as well, ‘if you think they are going to switch, screen your man as well.’ So I thought he did a (great) job of setting the screen. They didn’t switch it and he came out wide open. He pretty much screened two guys. We really let them back in the game and got lucky. Rasual bailed us out.”

On letting the Kings back in the game:
“They did a great job. They shoot the ball so well. They spread you out and make you defend them, and then they are good off the dribble. I thought the zone had a big time effect on them. But later on in the game, we were not getting up on the three-point shooters like we talked about. We were laying back then (Francisco) Garcia and (Rashad) McCants, all those guys started knocking them down.”

On the night by David West on a bad ankle:
“I knew if I took him out, he probably would not have come back in. Tomorrow we will just have to wait and see. Right now, I would say for tomorrow it does not look good.”

Hornets Guard Chris Paul

On doing whatever it takes to win:
“I said that right after the All-Star game, for the second half, whatever we have to do to win, we are going to do. If that means tough shots or just playing until the end, that’s what we are going to do.”

On Rasual’s game winning shot:
“Rasual is a shooter. I have the utmost confidence in him. It was a heads-up play for him to not shoot a two and go for the win and he knocked it in.”

Bowling with Vlade

The night before he is recognized by the Kings for his contribution to the franchise and the city at his jersey retirement ceremony at ARCO Arena, former Kings center Vlade Divac was amongst former teammates, friends and Kings fans at Strikes Family Entertainment Center in Rocklin for Charitabowl, which benefitted Humanitarian Organization Divac.

Watch — Vlade Divac’s Charitabowl – featuring interviews with Kings guards Kevin Martin and Bobby Jackson and former Kings players Scot Pollard, Peja Stojakovic and the last player to ever don #21 for the Kings, Vlade Divac.

Kayte’s Caption, March 31, 2009

Congratulations, Christopher! Tonight’s winning caption is: “Vlade doing what he does best. Making people smile. Thank you Vlade.”

If your caption is selected as the winning caption, please send your full name and mailing address to webteam@arcoarena.com.

Coachie Remembers Vlade

After the team wrapped up practice on Monday, Kings Development Coach Pete Carril reflected on the impact Vlade Divac had on the Kings and the NBA. He also discussed how Spencer Hawes and Jason Thompson can learn from Divac and Chris Webber and how the young duo compares to the former formidable Kings front line.

Watch — Coachie Remembers Vlade.

Making Wishes Come True

The Kings victory over the Phoenix Suns was extra special for one young Kings fan on Sunday night.

Prior to tip-off, Austin Gilchrist along with his mom, dad and sister arrived in a limousine at ARCO Arena. The nine-year-old boy was granted one wish through the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and his wish was to meet his hero, Kevin Martin.

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Postgame Quotes: Kings vs. Suns

Head Coach Kenny Natt

On the way the game played out:
“It was a very good win. We came out and we were in the game from the start tonight. I just keep saying over and over again how important it is for us to get off to a good start on both ends of the floor – when that happens, it gives us a fair chance of being in the ballgame. I thought we did a good job of that tonight. We maintained our composure – that’s a very good ball club we beat tonight. I just challenge the guys from the standpoint of figuring out why it is, for whatever reason, that we can’t come out this way every night. We’ve shown what we’re capable of doing when we come out and play basketball on both ends of the floor from the start of the game – we just need more consistency with that.”

On Kings being spoiler for potential Playoff teams:
“I’m not looking at the spoiler situation. I don’t think that any of us look at the spoiler situation more so than concentrating on ourselves – us as a team playing better basketball down the stretch of the season here. I don’t look at spoiling – I’ve been on both sides of that thing from the spoiler standpoint. I’m more concerned with the Kings and the way that we play and come out. Just giving that effort every night, whether it’s a win or a loss, but giving the effort from the start of the basketball game. That’s what I’m here to get out of these guys. I’m not thinking about beating anyone to knock them out of the Playoffs or whatever. We just have to try to win one game at a time.”

Kevin Martin

On Beno’s play tonight:
“I just told him to stick with it and keep on improving to get this team better. He is a catalyst on our team. Just like on any other team it starts with the point guard.”

On team being excited for the game:
“It was easy and we had a crowd here tonight. Games like that are easy.”

Francisco Garcia

On his approach to the game:
“I just wanted to come out there from off the bench and just play defense. They are tough, but they played last night and I think they were a little tired at the end. We got an advantage on them.”

On his fractured finger:
“It’s alright, I am used to it by now. Every time I hit it, it hurts. I am just used to it and it’s probably going to be like that for the rest of the season.”

Andres Nocioni

On Beno’s play:
“He was passing the ball well. It is very important to us for Beno to play well, because he is a good guard. He played really well.”

On Jason Thompson and Spencer Hawes’ playing time:
“It is really important to them. They need to learn to play hard and I think they do it pretty well. It is really big for us for them to play well in this sort of game. We need them for next year. They need to learn a lot in the NBA. I think they can do a great job and it’s good for us.”

–

Suns Head Coach Alvin Gentry

On how they were outplayed by the Kings:
“You have to give them credit. They got every loose ball and they did a better job of pursuing the ball. They ended up with 54 points in the paint. That tells me they got a lot of dribble penetration to the basket. We just didn’t do a very good job. We can’t give up 126 points. At some point we are going to have to do a better job of defending the ball and the basket. We gave them three quarters of 35 points. It was a lot. They out played us.”

On losing during a playoff race:
“It’s disappointing. We know the magnitude of every game we play. It’s very disappointing. It was such a letdown. We need a lot of help along the way. Now we have to scoreboard watch and take care of business on our end. Every game is very important.”

On fatigue playing a factor:
“I don’t know if it was a spill over from last night. We have three guys 35 years or older starting for us. This was the fourth game in five nights. Usually our bench brings a lot of energy and keeps us afloat but that didn’t happen tonight.”

Suns Guard Steve Nash

On their second straight tough loss:
“I don’t know what to say. Last night we were up seven with a short clock and lost it. We couldn’t make shots and made mistakes. Tonight, the fourth game in five nights, we laid an egg. It’s frustrating. We were playing for a lot tonight and we didn’t show that with attitude or desperation. We just didn’t get it done. I would have liked to see us find a way to get it done tonight.”

On losing a game like this in a playoff chase:
“If we want to be in the playoffs, this is a game we have to win. If you ask me do we deserve to make the Playoffs after a performance like tonight, you’d have to say we didn’t earn it. It’s not over yet, but we can look back on this if we don’t make it.”

On not setting the tone early:
“I think we let them get going and they got their confidence up. They were up 15 points on us at home. I guess we didn’t have our legs. We have to come out better. Perhaps we could have taken their confidence away a little bit, but I guess we didn’t have the legs to do it.”

Kayte’s Caption, March 29

Congratulations, Stan in Modesto! Tonight’s winning caption is: “Shaq makes sure Stat looks sharp while he watches the Kings beat the Suns!”

If your caption is selected as the winning caption, please send your full name and mailing address to webteam@arcoarena.com.

Postgame: Kings vs. Grizzlies

Head Coach Kenny Natt

On the way the game played out:
“Well, needless to say, it was a very disappointing loss tonight after having four days off in terms of games. I thought we had four days of good practice but it didn’t carry over tonight unfortunately. We were bad defensively and gave up 32 points in the first quarter to (Memphis). We got off to a slow start and they got their confidence going – that was the story.”

On if it was the same as what he saw last Sunday against the 76ers:
“More of the same –we got off to a slow start once again. Once the (other) team picks up their confidence, starts playing together and starts hitting shots, it makes it tough for us to focus in as a group to execute and score on our end of the floor. We had trouble scoring in the second quarter – we only scored 15 points – but they were hitting pretty much everything. They ended up shooting 53 percent from the field (in the game). We just didn’t do a good job of executing our offense. What that led to primarily was that we didn’t play defense on our end of the floor and get stops, which then spurs our offense on the other end.”

Andres Nocioni

On his health:
“I think I felt much better, so it’s good to have one week for rest. My knee feels much better.”

On the way the game played out:
“We threw away the first half (tonight) then in the second half we tried to pick up the energy and play better offense and better defense and it was too late. You just cannot do it that late. We need to start playing much better in the first quarter. We need to bring energy and play harder and try to compete every time. This is what we need right now.”

On team playing with effort:
“I think everyone gives effort on the team, but sometimes we are just not doing the right thing to win. It is frustrating. It’s frustrating for everybody. We need to pick it up and pick our heads up and try to think about what we need to do the last 11 games and that’s it.”

On improving:
“We need to try and build some chemistry and a team for the next year. This is what we need to do, so right now we need try to think about it. We need to think about practice everyday and try to play together everyday. So we can try to build something for the next year.”

Francisco Garcia

On the Grizzlies strong first half:
“I think they just kept trying to take it to the hole. The second half we played better defense and we tried to come back. We just need to do it from the beginning.”

On the way the game played out:
“I think coming into this game we had three good days of practice. We were ready to go out, but for some reason we keep slacking in the first half. That is me and Kevin. I am going to put that on us. We are the leaders of this team. We have to step up and be more vocal when things like tonight happen. I am frustrated, but I am frustrated with myself because I kind of let that happen in the first half. It got out of control a little bit and I didn’t really say anything. So when we were down 20 points in the first half it was frustrating.”

Grizzlies Head Coach Lionel Hollins

On playing with a lead:
“We had to play right to the end so they didn’t really throw in the towel. It is nice to get a 15 to 20 point lead and be able to relax and play with that lead versus a two- or three-point lead or from behind. I am just happy we were ahead most of the game and our guys executed and played well and we came away with the win.”

On what they did well:
“Tonight, the ball movement early was outstanding. The patience, we just made good decisions. We have been working on that a lot in practice the last couple of days. We came out and got a win with that kind of execution.”

On how important winning is to a young team:
“When you are trying to change a culture and a style of play, when you win, it rewards them for the work they are doing. If you don’t see any wins, then they say ‘well maybe this works but maybe it doesn’t work.’ But when you get wins, they start believing in it. Unfortunately, we have had a lot of tough games since the all-star break. The wins have been slow.”

Grizzlies Guard Mike Conley

On being on their game:
“Guys were just able to see the open guy and guys were ready to shoot the ball when they were open and ready to pass the ball when they were not open. That was a big key; knowing when to shoot and when not to shoot. We had it going early.”

On regaining control after the Kings’ third quarter rally:
“We wanted to slow it down. We knew they were attacking us and getting a lot of threes and open buckets. We wanted to get it inside to Marc (Gasol) and let him do what he does. Draw some defenders and get to the free throw line. We slowed it down, got back to our tempo and we went from there.”

On getting revenge for an earlier loss:
“It was a game everyone was looking forward to because they came and beat us with eight players at home. That was kind of a slap in the face to us. We wanted to come back and set an example and throw down. We wanted to be in the game from the beginning and set the tempo.”

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