Sacramento Kings starting center Samuel Dalembert has been upgraded from doubtful to questionable for tomorrow night’s game against the Lakers. Dalembert is one of the NBA’s iron men and it doesn’t surprise me if he opts to fight through the pain of the tendinitis flair up in his right knee. Coach Westphal said that if Dalembert is able to play, he will start. If not, rookie DeMarcus Cousins will get the call.
Coach Westphal on Dalembert:
He’s been upgraded from doubtful to questionable. He did some 5 on 0 things today and knowing Sammy, he really wants to play so we will see tomorrow.
On the chance of Whiteside being brought up:
We want him to get experience playing. I said that was an option but Sammy, if he’s questionable, knowing him, he won’t be out long and we don’t want to bring Whiteside back and sit on the bench and not be activated. If there is a real opportunity for him to get some minutes then we would think real strongly about doing that, but we know he’s going to get some minutes in the D-league and that’s what he needs more than anything.
Back in training camp, Samuel Dalembert and I had an amusing exchange about his adductor injury. Here is that exchange:
TPP: If you had a game tonight, could you go?
Dalembert: Of course man, what kind of question is that. I’ve played with worse than that. I’ve played with fractures and stuff like that. I’ve been called stupid by doctors before and crazy…
Two weeks later, after not making it through a single practice, it was announced that Dalembert would be out an additional 4-6 weeks.
Dalembert felt the flair up of the tendinitis during the third quarter of Tuesday nights game against Indiana. Following that game, Sammy and I had a similar exchange:
TPP: I know not to ask but you’re playing against the Lakers, right?
Dalembert: You know you don’t have to ask, you know.
Knowing Dalembert, he will play through the pain. It should be noted that although Dalembert missed most of training camp, he only missed the first game of the season after it was expected that he would miss the first week or two of the regular season.
The Kings play back to back games against the Lakers and Mavericks on Friday and Saturday night. They desperately need Dalembert and his size to combat both of these opponents so lets hope the Haitian Sensation can make a go of it.
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