The Weekend Wrap: We Have a Foundation

Beno is on fire!

It was a great week for the Sacramento Kings as they won all three games on the schedule to run their winning streak to four-in-a-row and their season record to 5-4. The Kings are starting to make news around the NBA and get some attention for their solid start. Earlier this week, Blake Ellington of Bleed Black and Purple covered the Monday Morning Rush and had three areas in which to watch for this week. Let’s take a look at how those things turned out.

1. The Race to .500: As mentioned in the opening, the Kings accomplished their goal of .500 this week and are playing very solid basketball. It is the first time the Kings have been at .500 since December 4^th 2006 and the first time that they have won four-in-a-row since late in the 2007-08 season. The Kings are now 4-1 at home and are starting to generate some buzz in Sacramento as well. Hopefully this will make it fun to go back to Arco again and the Kings return to protecting the home court on a regular basis. We need some more cowbell people!

 2. Udrih-Evans Combo Development: This is certainly an area that has gone much better than planned for the Kings. Beno Udrih looks like the dynamic guard that the Kings signed to a multi-year deal and dealt Mike Bibby away to retain instead of the player that looked out-of-sync most of last season. It’s amazing what a new coach with a plan and some competition will do for a player. Both guards are taking turns setting up the offense and because both of them have great ball handling skills, it appears that opposing teams are off balance and don’t know which to key on. Tyreke Evans is benefiting as some of the pressure is being taken off of him to initiate the offense and Beno’s hot shooting (54.7 percent, 16.5 points over the last six games) has helped spread the floor. One thing that is interesting to note is that Udrih has either improved his defense, or the new style initiated by coach Paul Westphal is doing a better job of hiding his liabilities in that area. Last season, you knew who Beno was guarding at all times because more often than not, that player was already at the rim or dishing to another player when the help defense came. Udrih is not getting torched so far this year on the defensive end and the Kings are playing much better defense as a whole than at any point last season.

 3. Ime Udoka: Speaking of defense, how about Ime Udoka? Since being signed by the Kings he has fit right in as a key reserve off of the bench to provide hustle and muscle. Udoka looks to be playing the style that the Kings are striving for as they try to change the culture around the club as he plays the tough brand of hard-nosed ball that it seems very apparent that the Kings are trying to center their team around. His last game was very efficient as he scored eight points and grabbed six rebounds in 21 minutes of play and continued to play the tough defense that is his trademark. Udoka is not going to “wow” anyone with his stat lines, but he is going to continue to be a solid reserve for the Kings and the type of player that all teams need. He doesn’t make mistakes, plays solid defense and shoots well enough to keep the opposing team honest. It’s hard to believe that more clubs didn’t pursue him after being cut by Portland.

 In other news: the Kings are rumored to be interested in a possible swap between Kenny Thomas’ expiring contract and obtaining the services of Emeka Okafor. It’s one of those deals that only makes sense from an NBA perspective as the expiring contract of a bench reserve would equal that of a full-time starter. While it would bolster the current Kings roster to add a presence like Okafor in the middle, I’m skeptical about it being a good deal for the Kings. Okafor has six years and $62.5 million left on his hefty contract and is overpaid. Obtaining him for a bench player would be a nice boost initially, but is it worth being saddled with that contract? While Okafor is a solid player in the post, he isn’t a complete player and has limited upside offensively with almost no passing ability. He is a great rebounder and defender, but you have to wonder why New Orleans is willing to deal him after only 11 games there and why Charlotte never even approached the .500 mark in any of his seasons there. He is being paid like a front-line player, but so far in his career has failed to deliver on that promise. I think it would be a huge mistake for the Kings to take on that contract for a player that has not shown an ability to be a game changer. They would be better off to save that money to continue to build from within and sign their own potential free agents in a few years or go after other players that can fill that defensive role in the middle if that is what they are looking for, but that is just my opinion.