Ok, I thought camp was over yesterday and then the Kings made the team available one last time for the media before flying out to Minnesota. The team ran a scrimmage and then Coach Westphal lined up to hit a free throw. If he made it, the team would have to run lines, if he missed, everyone goes home happy. Needless to say, there was a loud roar int he practice facility when the ball rolled off the rim. Planned? I don’t know but either way, it was a fun moment and a perfect way to end camp.
After practice, the players grouped up like usual. On the left near court, Pooh Jeter and Donté Greene worked on jumpers. On the far left court, Jason Thompson and Omri Casspi held a three point contest. Omri talked a lot of smack after Thompson only hit 8 of his 25- I guess the big fella isn’t ready to shoot with the wings just yet. Dalembert and Whiteside continue to work together on the far right court and Beno and Cisco shot free throws on the near court to the right. Everything was abbreviate today because the team had a 1:00pm flight to catch but here is the round up.
Injury report:
- Samuel Dalembert- (adductor) He’s on the mend but still not ready for game action.
Coaches Notes and Quotes:
- Westphal on missing the free throw: “I tanked it. If I made it then we were going to have to run a suicide. It’s not that easy to miss a shot and make it look like your trying to make it. You’ve got to make it look good.”
- On Samuel Dalembert’s injury: “To me, it all depends on what the doctors say. So we’ll take a close look at it and do what we think is right. We want to make sure he’s ready to go and at the same time he’s progressing real well. He looked good yesterday in practice and he looked good today and that’s nice to see.”
- On bring Dalembert back in slowly: “Just because he is physically able, doesn’t mean he’s in top flight condition to be able to play major minutes.”
- On the game plan without Tyreke tomorrow night: “We run the same stuff, we just have a little different emphasis. You always try to play to everyone strength and we go from there.”
- On whether Dalembert will regain his starting position when he’s fully healthy or is DeMarcus Cousins the starter: “I have know idea how to answer that question because I don’t know what’s going to happen. We’ll evaluate it and do what’s seems to be the best thing at the time.”
I asked the Cousins/Dalembert question and posted his response for a specific reason. Although his answer is short and seems to not say anything, it does. Cousins has made an impression and although Dalembert is in his first season with the Kings, one would assume that he would be the starter when he returns. Westphal’s reply tells me that Cousins is in the mix and his play will decide who is the starting center for the Kings.
If you missed the Antoine Wright interview from earlier today, you can find it here or the discussion on the topic here at Sactown Royalty.
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