I officially started writing about the Sacramento Kings 13 years and 2 months ago. I know because my first son was due shortly, and I told the legendary Tom Ziller than I wasn’t sure how much time I’d have to write about the Kings. We celebrated my son’s 13th birthday this week, and in that time I’ve never had an opportunity to write about a Kings team as good and fun as the team we have this season.
Over the course of these years I’ve often joked that I wouldn’t know how to cover a good basketball team. Now I’m finding that to be true. So often we’ve spent the days between games dissecting what’s wrong with the team, or who is to blame for what’s going wrong. That’s the nature of covering a bad team. Now? I’m just so happy that I rarely even think about writing the day after a game. I’m just basking in the glow of The Beam and loving every minute of it.
I’m sure eventually this will wear off and we’ll be more focused on why the team won a specific game, or the flaws we’re worried about, but for now I’m just enjoying the moment. So consider this my apology for the lack of content between games and a plea for patience as I figure out how to cover a good team.
Please don’t …apologize.
Thank you for all of the effort you put in during the bad years, Greg. Fuck it. You deserve this patience.
Heh, I like what you did with that first sentence.
It’s like going through the stages of grieving; but the opposite way!
ENJOY. THE. RIDE.
I definitely feel like, as Kings fans, we all need to give each other permission to be happy and excited. It almost feels wrong. Lol Was not expecting that this year.
If it makes you feel any better, we have all been lost and confused reading your stuff for years now.
So, you are not alone.
This is a confusion caused by joy, an emotion we may not know how to deal with. It is a fighting team (on most nights) and a joy to watch. It is a team as shown by the picture of HB celebrating the DPOG award with teammates. What’s not to love?!
The team could be good?
PLAYOFF TREK:
To boldly go where no Kings team in 16 seasons has gone before
It’s time again for Kings fans to engage.
So…
when do we lose that “waiting for the other shoe to drop” feeling?
I’ve been going to Kings games since they arrived in 1985 (I’ve earned my moniker) and it’s like dusting off the ol’ wide eyed excitement and charging up the ol’ adrenaline producers – but with that lurking mistrust that
VivekLucy will pull that football away at the last moment. I am looking forward to that going away (though the suspense IS part of the fun, I’ll admit)I am trusting what I am seeing, I am delighting in the numbers, I am exalting in the whole kit and kaboodle – Mike Brown and his wonderful staff, Monte McNair and Wes Wilcox, the happy, easy to root for Good Guys roster, and King Vivek, Queen Matina and Prince Aneel as well – gladly!
For these first 30 games it is pleasurable and fun to rejoice (maybe just joice, because ya gotta joice before you rejoice) anyhoo …
LIGHT THE BEAM!
when do we lose that “waiting for the other shoe to drop” feeling?
I, uh, have some experience with this. It takes a while for that “how are they going to lose this game?” feeling to go away and be replaced with the opposite.
I’m not wearing shoes.
I will definitely be enjoying this ride while it lasts….hopefully it lasts for a long period of time. I can’t even image what the atmosphere of the Golden 1 Center will be like if we make it to the postseason. The fans that have stuck through 16 years of losing seasons are going to explode in a good way.
I will be one of the exploding fans no matter the cost.
No need to apologize, you’ll get acclimated.
I’m a pessimist through and through, but I’m just enjoying the games, and not thinking about how things will play out. Sacramento has had good losses, and some bad ones, and even that is an improvement over previous seasons. No one is thinking about a scheduled win when they see the Kings on the schedule.
The team seems to be able to bear down on defense in the fourth quarter, and grind teams up, which is just satisfying as hell. If they can manage to bring some of that to earlier parts of games, large deficits could be less common, and the fourth quarter can be used to salt away wins. That’s how good teams do it.
I am!
Is this an admission that there’s a correlation between you posting a lot of content and the team sucking? 😀
The team actually doing well is enough content in itself – don’t gotta worry about posting more stuff.
I’ve never been an Xs and Os guy or even a stats guy. My forte has always been commentary and news. The commentary is lacking because I don’t have a creative way to write “hey isn’t this neat!” after every win lol
That’s okay. You’ve suffered long enough that I think we can forgive you for enjoying the beam. Hey, even the Blues Brothers froze in the light before they danced around. It’s not a bad time to brainstorm all the possible story arcs that fit within the overall team arc, before deciding which ones you want to hone in on.
That’s cuz you’re a complete idiot. Just saying…
I’ve always been a member of the Wissenger fan faction….”Don’t forget I know nothing”. I know how you feel. I’d say at this point I’m a 52% believer in what we’re seeing,,,,,meaning… I BELIEVE! but still holding my breath and waiting for the other shoe to drop…..but not freaking with each loss.
Totally get it, Greg. The same here.
I have much less to comment about now. I’m the anti-Kingsguru, if you will.
Just enjoying it. Cool vibes.
I thought more deeply about it (don’t worry, I won’t make it a habit), and I think it will be a temporary thing.
Once we’ll get used to the idea and can be confident that this team has indeed crawled out of the lottery-hole, have tasted the play-offs etc., we will want to see more. And then we’ll scrutinze the team once more, criticize Brown for his rotations, demand better revounding from Keegan, stouter D from Fox, new bandaids for Monk, a permanent beam and whatnot.
But at the moment we’re just giddy and don’t know where to leave our hands.
So consider this my apology for the lack of content between games and a plea for patience as I figure out how to cover a good team.
I think a daily or bi-daily open thread would be an easy way to create conversation and activity in the comments. Or just throwing a relevant topic out there that can be discussed (right now that would be trade chatter); a full fledged article isn’t always needed, just a paragraph on a topic and just let the comment section roll.
I bring up the comment section a lot as I think that’s why most of us frequent this site (other’s can correct me if I’m wrong).
My opinion too
You’ll get into the flow just like when the offense does and it will be awesome to read.
I’ve been season ticket holder for awhile all we’ve done is lost. It’s strange and wonderful when opposing teams fans are quiet after games. LIGHT THE BEAM!!!
What are we supposed to do w our hands?
Greg, you said what most of us are thinking. Prior to this year, the team hasn’t really had a plan. You couldn’t avoid writing ‘why is there no plan?’ constantly. It was always true. Now there’s a plan and a team with a personality. My suggestion is to write about the next levels they need to climb to actually win a playoff series (although I’m not counting chickens and Jim Mora is still in the back of my mind). Here are some:
The existence of ‘finer points’ that need improvement is uncharted territory. The improved 4th quarter defense is one of them. That Cleveland win!! It also reminds us that they are actually GOOD this year. By the way, here’s your East Coast Snarky Millenial Nerds Watch (TM), reading The Ringer so you don’t have to. Fox (28) Sabonis (37) and Huerter (78) are all in The 100 Best NBA Players According To Very Online East Coast Guys. Halliburton is 21, but you know what? That’s OK. I like our guys.
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