Written by Zach Harper | 16 December 2008

Reggie Theus fired from Kings; Kenny Natt takes over
By Brandon Gallawa

The Sacramento Kings fired Reggie Theus on Monday morning, and it was announced that assistant Kenny Natt was named interim coach.  The Kings also fired Chuck Person, Theus' top assistant.  The writing seemed to be on the wall as early November 15th when Joe Maloof called Theus out on a Sacramento radio show, but it seems that losses in 10 of their last 11 games and falling to last place in the Pacific was the straw that broke the camel's back.

Theus was not stellar in his short tenure with Sacramento going 44-62 in his first stint as an NBA head coach.  The Kings did overachieve last season going 38-44 despite dealing with a lot of injuries, but their 6-18 record this season left a lot to be desired in spite of missing Kevin Martin for 15 games, Francisco Garcia for 17 games and Brad Miller for the first 5 games of the season.  They are one of the worst defensive teams in the league and don't back that up with a very good offense, and their rookies have regressed as the season has progressed.  So the case can be made that Theus deserved to be fired.

The case can also be made that he never deserved to be hired in the first place, a point I belabored while the Kings were searching for a coach before the 2007-08 season.  Reggie Theus was strictly a marketing pick during that off-season.  He was a recognized name in Sacramento having played for the Kings for 4 seasons; he had an appealing look that would attract fans, and he was coming off a good season as a college head coach.  As most of us know decisions made with only marketing as a factor usually don't work out very well.  These poor decisions along with impatience, unrealistic expectations and the whims of an owner usually lead to a combustible situation that almost always ends with someone losing his or her job.

Check out all of Brandon's reaction to the Kings' coaching decision


Phoenix Suns 111, New York Knicks 103 in Phoenix
By Zach Harper

This was the first game in a long time that I saw the Phoenix Suns have fun as a basketball team and it was all thanks to Terry Porter Mike D'Antoni. The former Suns coach was treated properly by the Suns fans despite controversial comments about some former players and the current management and received an ovation that Terry Porter will probably never hear in the US Airways Arena. The Suns were forced to run in a fast-paced and wide-open game in which the Suns size advantage and point guard advantage proved to be the difference in this game.

This game was far closer than it ever should have been but there was never a feeling of the Knicks actually winning this game. When the Suns pushed it to an early 32-15 lead off an Amare Stoudemire layup, it was clear that my prediction of a Suns upset was never going to happen. But the game was still close throughout the game and if the Knicks weren't such an awful defensive (and undersized) unit then they might have been able to get this often double-digit lead down to a tie game.

Nate Robinson was a sparkplug off the bench as long as he wasn't shooting threes and Al Harrington shot the Knicks back into the game after shooting them out early. He finished with 24 points and shot 6 of 12 from the field after starting the game 2 of 10. Aside from the defense, the Knicks' three-point shooting kept them from making this a dangerous situation for the Suns. They finished just 5 of 37 from beyond the arc with 18 attempts coming from Nate Robinson and Tim Thomas off the bench. Their poor first quarter shooting kept them from being a legit threat early and they could never fully recover.

For the Suns, they were able to seemingly find a nice balance between running the ball and taking advantage of size mismatches inside. Shaq was fed early and fed often as he ended up with 23 points, 12 rebounds and 18 free throw attempts. He was constantly tackeld by Wilson Chandler, David Lee, and Quentin Richardson in an effort from trying to keep him from getting the ball to the basket. Lee and Chandler eventually fouled out due to the Suns' physical inside play. The Suns weathered the Knicks' runs and never panicked with the Knicks cutting the game to a three-point game late in the fourth. Steve Nash scored seven points in the final two and a half minutes of the game, including a three-pointer with 28 seconds left to give them an eight point lead, and finished with 21 points, six assists, and one good time playing basketball (it was his first of the year).

New York Knicks (11-13) at Los Angeles Lakers (20-3) at 7:30pm PST
By Brandon Gallawa

You run into certain snags when previewing games when you have unwritten rules and it seems to be an awful night of basketball.  The first snag is that the best game on paper is Nuggets at Rockets, but my first unwritten rule is no previewing the same team on back-to-back nights.  New Orleans at Memphis is enticing because of the potential of it being Marc Iavaroni's last game, but that goes against the no obvious blow-outs rule which also eliminated Sacramento at Portland.  I've already previewed the Clips and Thunder in the past, so no thank you.  So then it was between Chicago at Charlotte and New York at LA.  I think I picked the right game.

The Knicks started the season with a 2-8 record away from MSG, but they have gone 2-2 on this recent road trip with convincing wins against New Jersey and Sacramento.  It was believed by many that the deals the Knicks made with Golden State and the LAC were done to shave money off the 2010 salary cap, but the Knicks have managed to stay somewhat competitive even after the deals.  The key seems to be the play of Al Harrington and David Lee.  Since the trade to New York, Harrington has averaged 25.5 points and 7.8 rebounds per game and has two 30+ point performances in the last week.  Lee has been a double-double machine since Randolph was sent to LA.  He has had a double-double in 12 of the last 14 games and is averaging 16 points and 13 rebounds per game during that stretch.  It's hard to believe, but this game also screams letdown game after D'Antoni's revenge game against the Suns last night.

It is hard to believe that so many people are down on the Lakers because of their "rough" week last week.  I'm sure every team would love to have a 3-1 record on their down weeks and be 20-3 overall.  Kobe Bryant is entrenched in the Tim Duncan School of saving yourself for when it counts and still putting up retarded numbers.  How retarded?  Kobe is averaging 25 PPG, 5.3 boards, 4.3 assists, 1.4 steals, and he is only playing 34.4 minutes per game.  Let me put that into perspective for you, this is the fewest minutes per game he has played since becoming a full time starter, and he is still fourth in the league in scoring.  And he certainly hasn't been a one-man show.  Andrew Bynum seems to have picked up where he left off last year after a slow start.  Pau Gasol is having arguably the best statistical season of his career.  The Lakers also have the best bench in the league, and it isn't even that close.

Key Match-Up - Harrington/Lee versus Gasol/Bynum
First things first, Kobe is going to get his and the benches are going to both produce, but the game will be won and lost in the post.  There are a lot of burning questions in this match-up:  Can the undersized Knicks' front line hang with the Lakers twin towers?  Can Lee out-tough Bynum and in the process grab more boards?  Can Harrington stretch the Lakers' defense and be effective from the perimeter?  Can Harrington's quickness offset Gasol's savvy?  Does Gasol ever wash his hair and does his facial hair grow in all white trashy like that or does he have to shave it?  Which PF is softer than day old frozen yogurt?
Prediction: The Lakers have too much for the Knicks on the second night of a back-to-back


How about you get caught up in some Week 8 Power Rankings?
By Zach Harper

2008-2009 NBA Power Rankings: Week 8 Rankings
Rank	Rank (Last Wk)	Team	Week's Games	Week	Rec.	Rankings Comments
	01 (01)	Boston Celtics	at ATL, CHI, NY	3-0	23-2	If you take away their current 15-game win streak, they were only 8-2. So, keep your chin up, rest of the league. - Zach Harper
	02 (02)	L.A. Lakers	NY, at MIA, at ORL, at MEM	3-1	20-3	The Lakers have gone 3-1 in back-to-back weeks with both losses to teams they should have beaten. People are all of a sudden down on them. They're still 17 games over .500, and that doesn't suck.- Brandon Gallawa
	03 (03)	Cleveland Cavaliers	at MIN, at DEN, at OKC	3-1	20-4	The Cavs are trying not to look ahead but their next game circled on the calendar has to be their January 9th showdown with the Boston Celtics. - Zach Harper
	04 (11)	San Antonio Spurs	at NOH, at ORL, TOR, SAC	4-0	15-8	Just like that the Spurs have won 6 straight, they have all their players healthy, and they are still flying under the radar. Is there a more unheralded dynasty than the Spurs? - Brandon Gallawa
	05 (06)	Denver Nuggets	at HOU, CLE, at PHX, POR	3-0	17-7	Last season, the Nuggets allowed 107 points per game and couldn't be taken seriously as contenders. This year, just 97.5 points against them per game.  - Zach Harper

Check out the rest of the Week 8 Power Rankings by clicking the link. The Link.



"It's like arguing with the referee after he calls the foul. There's no point in going through everything. It doesn't matter. I can see it one way, but they obviously are seeing it differently. Given the injuries to Kevin (Martin) and Cisco (Garcia), I thought we did a pretty good job. Taking over a team that was struggling in the first place, we knew it was a daunting challenge, but when I look in the mirror, I think we did the best we could. I'm just sad I won't be here to see it through. They've got good young players. They've got money (salary cap relief) coming.

Things around here tend to be on the negative side. That's the one thing I hope that changes. You have to pull for each other in an organization on all levels." -- Reggie Theus to the Sac Bee after finding out about his firing.

I like to think that Reggie Theus is dead-on with his assessment of the situation but like many other people, I don't know the day to day happenings of this Kings organization. Theus isn't the only thing holding back the Kings from being successful. They're rebuilding and no longer a tough team to face on a nightly basis. Perhaps that last dig at the negative side of the organization can open some eyes and get them to figure this thing out.

By Zach Harper



Top 3 of the Night
1. Paul Millsap - 32 pts, 10 rebs, 2 blks, 13-20 fg
Paul Millsap is making the Jazz life without Carlos Boozer a little more manageable. He's had 12 straight double-doubles and did a great job of battling the Celtics' frontcourt before fouling out.
2. Jameer Nelson - 32 pts, 4 asts, 3 stls, 13-25 fg, 5-9 3fg
Jameer Nelson made up for the Magic not having an injured Dwight Howard by scoring at will on the Warriors guards and leading his team to anoher road victory. He scored 23 points in the second half.
3. Danny Granger - 27 pts, 9 rebs, 5 asts, 5 stls
Danny Granger is a fantasy player's wet dream. He was a perfect 10-10 from the free throw line and lit up a good defender in Caron Butler.

Bottom 3 of the Night
1. Nate Robinson - 27 pts, 12-27 fg, 1-10 3fg
Chickenhawk was able to score, distribute, and play decent disruptive defense. But he made only one three in 10 attempts and it helped them lose to the Suns. Would have been a big win.
2. Randy Foye - 9 pts, 2 asts, 2-11 fg
Randy Foye is 4-23 in his last two games and is shooting just 39% from the field in the Wolves 10-game losing streak. Why is he a starting point guard in this league? To piss me off.
3. Kelenna Azubuike - 6 pts, 10 rebs, 2-14 fg
The Warriors were in a good position at home to beat a Magic team that didn't have Dwight Howard. Kelenna Azubuike's inability to put the ball in the basket at an efficient level is a big reason they lost this game.


Here are the Top Blog Posts from yesterday.

1. From True Hoop-
Fired Coaches Sendoff Games
2. From Empty the Bench-
Non-household names who get double-doubles
3. From The Sporting Blog-
Shoals: Suns had everything...except patience


To check out today's media fun, click this link and scroll down to Section 8. 

Thanks for reading today's Eight-Second Violation.  Send your comments, criticism and words of praise to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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