Sacramento King Overreactions From Opening Night In Chicago

Ah, the sweet sounds of sneakers squeaking on the hardwood and oversized men complaining like seven year old’s in the sandbox – the NBA has officially tipped off yet again.

Oct 31, 2012; Chicago, IL, USA; Sacramento Kings point guard

(13) is defended by Chicago Bulls small forward

(9) during the second half at the United Center. The Bulls won 93-87. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Wierzbicki-US PRESSWIRE

The Sacramento Kings opened off their season last night in the Windy City against a Derrick Rose-less Chicago Bull squad and despite their best efforts (as Scott noted in the postgame piece), it wasn’t enough as they fell by six in the 87-93 loss.

As with any team sport, the first games can be taken with a grain of salt as it takes time for the group to cohesively gel and for the rust of the offseason to be shaken off – but in a world of what have you done for me lately, time is the last thing we need – it’s all about OVERREACTING!1!!1!

Yep – one game in and there are already observations to be made…

• As of now, it looks like Aaron Brooks and Isaiah Thomas will be running a time share, which I personally don’t understand, as both players played nearly identical minutes last night. I know some feel Brooks is the better of the two talents (not me, personally) but splitting the duties seems odd. Give one the job and let the other play into his role off the bench. While I’m all for having the best unit on the floor as the game comes to a close, you still need a structure within your system – not picking names out of a hat.
• Even though John Salmons was no place to be found given his excused absence, he sure seemed like he was in the Kings’ starting lineup – just in the form of James Johnson. For all of the pluses Johnson can bring defensively, his offense looked woeful last evening. His ability to bring the ball up court is a welcome addition – though – it’s not as if the Kings are lacking in that department. But much like a handful of his teammates, Johnson looks lost when the ball is in his possession. Does he shoot? Does he pass? Let’s just walk around and pick up your dribble instead – that’s not when you’re spinning out of control, passing in mid-air. Yeesh. Clean that up, sir. Johnson had trouble understanding his role in Toronto, let’s hope that doesn’t happen here.
• Turnovers, turnovers, turnovers. Seems familiar.
• On the plus side, Tyreke Evans looked great for a vast majority of the game – especially early where he carried the club. It’s a make or break year for the former Tiger and at least for one night, he looked a lot more like Rookie of the Year Tyreke than the out of shape and injured Evans we’ve seen recently. Mentally, there’s still a ways to go for Evans but he was undoubtedly one of the Kings best players last night on both ends of the court.
• Good luck getting floor time, Jimmer.
• Defensively, the Kings looked improved – though, it’s still an obvious uphill battle with this squad that Coach Smart will be dealing with all season. They had their moments though and unlike last year, when things didn’t go their way, they continued to fight back. They’ll need to put it together for longer stretches, but they did look better than pretty much any moment last year.
• Thomas Robinson made his NBA debut and was, well, rookie-ish, to say the least. He’ll be fine though – with a game built off a huge engine, it’s just about learning the basics which will come in time.

Overall, it was tough to get a read on the Kings (as it should be) through their first game. There were times when they looked improved, yet, too many head scratching moments that we’ve all witnessed the past few years. How good are the Bulls, void of their Rose? How much of a test was it for the Kings? All questions we’ll have answered in the next few weeks – but for now? OVERREACT1!1!! TRADE EVERYBODYEYY!Y!!1 CUT JIMMER!1!!1!