Sacramento Kings: The Progession Is Showing

Jan 17, 2014; Memphis, TN, USA; Sacramento Kings center DeMarcus Cousins (15) shoots the ball over Memphis Grizzlies center Kosta Koufos (41) during the game at FedExForum. Memphis Grizzlies defeat the Sacramento Kings 91-90. Mandatory Credit: Spruce Derden-USA TODAY Sports

The Sacramento Kings have shown quite a bit of improvement over their last seven games. The Kings were on a winning streak until they met up with the Indiana Pacers in Indiana and the Pacers just took the game over and made the Kings come back to earth; but the team has shown improvement. The team is taking on the New Orleans Pelicans Tuesday night and although this game is not a must win, getting a win tonight against a depleted Pelicans roster would be the best thing for this Kings team right now.

The Kings had a rough loss against the Grizzlies on Friday and followed that loss up on Sunday with an embarrassing loss to the Thunder, making Tuesday’s game against the Pelicans a nice chance to get back on track. Sacramento has shown throughout the season that they can keep up with the top echelon teams in the NBA but they can’t seem to do it consistently and then against the lower level teams they find a way to throw the game away.

To make complete progress this season the Kings need to make their presence known before the All-Star break. To all the fans that want DeMarcus Cousins to be an All-Star, I have some bad news for you, but I don’t expect it to happen. The Kings need to have wins and without wins in the West with the talent that is the Western Conference, getting a player from Sacramento to join the All-Star team just seems very unlikely.

However, having the Kings play well up to the All-Star break and making a strong record through the second half of the season could really make a case for DeMarcus to be an All-Star next season. Not only would a strong second half to the season be strong for DeMarcus but also to show Rudy Gay that the team is looking to win and if winning it could help Rudy in making the decision for him to stay in Sacramento a bit easier.

The Kings could very well be having more moves on the way since the NBA is nearing the trade deadline and the progression for the second half of the season could go back to trying to making a roster gel once again with new pieces, but for right now the team is set the way it is and the team is starting to show progress but that progress needs to go to the next level.

WHAT IS THE NEXT LEVEL?

• DEFEND HOME COURT: The Sacramento Kings have had one of the hardest schedules this season, but it has come with the positve that more than half of their games have been on their home court. However, the Kings seem to not really be able to take advantage of that; going into the second half of the season the Kings are going to have to get more wins on their home turf.
• CONSISTENCY: The Kings need to find away to play with the same effort on both ends of the floor no matter the team or the arena. Coach Michael Malone has stated this countless times through the season, that the team does not have the on-and-off switch and they cannot take off any plays.
• DEFEAT THE LEAST: The Kings have shown to have a ton of talent and the big three of Thomas, Cousins and Gay have been the second-highest scoring big three in the league, but the team still has shown to struggle against the lower-level teams. The Kings need to really start taking advantage of the fact that they will soon start playing against more of the Eastern Conference teams that, let’s be honest, is a weak conference. The Kings need to really need to start taking advantage of those matchups moving forward.

The Sacramento Kings have still so much to learn going forward but the progression this season and the way that Coach Michael Malone has taken over this team has become very noticeable. Moving forward as a fan of Sacramento, you have to look at this team and just see be patient because it is starting to look like the team that you all have been waiting for, is slowly coming to fruition.