Monday Morning Rush: On the road again

Valuable trade chip, expiring contract, or key contributor?

Every monday, in a collaborative effort between blogs, Blake Ellington of Bleed Black and Purple will list some things that Kings fans should be watching for in the upcoming week in the Monday Morning Rush. I will then wrap up the week that was in The Weekend Wrap every Sunday. Let’s take a look at what Kings fans should be looking for this week.

Monday Morning Rush: On the road again

Contributed by Blake Ellington

With only one home game and four of the next five on the road, this week will be a nice test for this young Kings team. Coming off of the high of last week, Kings fans have a lot to look forward to if the tempo and toughness on the court keeps up. For the sake of enjoying the moment (and with an asteric that it is only November), if the playoffs were to begin today, the Kings would be the seventh seed and be playing the Portland Trail Blazers. Now that we got that out of the way, let’s focus on this upcoming week that features three opponents – all have winning records (Chicago Bulls, Dallas Mavericks and Houston Rockets). If the Kings can manage to win at least two of these games, it will push them into the discussion of possible playoff teams in the Western Conference. The New Orleans Hornets (they may not even be in the top 10 by the end of the season) and the Rockets are two teams the Kings can challenge for the eighth spot in the conference. For now though, they need to focus on maintaining a .500 record.

Here are some things to watch for this week:

1. On the road again –  The Kings sole road win came against the Utah Jazz. They face two good opponents this week on the road and while the crowd at Arco Arena these days isn’t exactly blowing the roof off, it does seem to push the team to victories. Crowd noise is always an issue in Dallas where the fans still believe they have an elite team and have a chance at returning to the championship. In a close game, it will be interesting to see if the Kings can keep their composure on the road among a raucous crowd. They don’t have anyone who can guard Dirk Nowitzki with any sort of consistency and this one will be a shoot out. In Houston, the fans are ready for a playoff push and we saw how quickly they can go on runs last week. Not to mention they beat the Lakers last night.

2. Kenny Thomas – Should we trade him for Omeka Okafor? Your initial response is probably an emphatic, “YES!” Okafur is more productive and useful at the moment, but in the long-run it may be better to hang on to Thomas mainly for his expiring contract (cap space for 2010), but also for his recent resurrection. After Eric Musselman and Reggie Theus basically told Thomas to stay home on game nights, Paul Westphal has given Thomas a role. That role is an important one. Much like Ime Udoka, Thomas is a big body who bangs and grabs rebounds. He also provides words of wisdom to a team of youngsters. He registered 19 minutes in Friday’s game against the Rockets; 15 minutes in the win against the Jazz. Look for Thomas to keep his minutes steady and for Westphal to use him even more this week if Omri Casspi is going to miss any extended amount of playing time.

3. Opponents’ scoring – Though they are playing well as of late, a glaring problem in the Kings game is the number of points they are allowing their opponents. The Kings are averaging 104 points per game while their opponents are averaging 105. The defense has certainly improved in the form of steals and rebounding, but to have continued success, they will need to start preventing their opponents from scoring so much. Look for the them to ratchet up the loose ends this week with more minutes from Udoka and Thomas for defensive purposes. Paul Westphal has a reputation as an offensive-minded coach but he is on record as understanding the importance of a solid defense so surely the coaching staff has this number on their radar.