National Basketball Association

Young Kings seek more improvement

Published Oct. 23, 2010 12:05 a.m. ET

foxsports

The Sacramento Kings hope to have something substantial to play for at the end of this season rather than the individual milestone that created that misplaced pomp and circumstance last April.

As the Kings wrapped up the home schedule in a fourth straight season without a playoff bid, the team tried to create some late-season drama around Rookie of the Year Tyreke Evans' quest to join an exclusive club.

With a year of experience behind him, an improved jump shot and the addition of rookie center DeMarcus Cousins, Evans feels much bigger team goals could be attainable this season.

''Yeah, I think it's possible,'' Evans said. ''We were pretty close last year in the first quarter of the season and then fell apart. We just have to learn to close out games.''

The play of Evans was the biggest development in Sacramento since the days Chris Webber, Vlade Divac, Mike Bibby and Peja Stojakovic made the franchise a title contender last decade.

Evans beat out Stephen Curry as the top rookie last season after joining Oscar Robertson, Michael Jordan and LeBron James as the only first-year players to average at least 20 points, five rebounds and five assists a game.

He joined that elite club in the second-to-last game of the season. When he got within two points of clinching a 20 point per game average, music played and the fans stood and cheered every time he touched the ball, hoping he would do it at home. He missed eight straight shots that would have given him the milestone before finally making two free throws to get there.

It was a bizarre scene for a franchise that only a handful of years ago had much more important things to worry about leading into the playoffs.

Even with the potentially talented inside-outside duo of Evans and Cousins, the Kings still have work to do to become a contender in the power-packed Western Conference.

They need to find more consistent outside shooting, cut down on turnovers and play better interior defense. One thing not lacking is confidence.

''We have a lot of expectations,'' forward Jason Thompson said. ''We are obviously still kind of like the underdog, but we kind of like that. Usually, when teams have high expectations things don't go as well and they can have trouble. But for us, the high expectations are obvious that we are trying to make the playoffs and get back to how Sacramento used to be.''

The Kings showed signs of ending that drought with a 13-14 start. They then lost 20 of 23 games and went on to a 25-57 record in coach Paul Westphal's first season with the team.

That rough stretch began with a pair of overtime losses to Cleveland and the Lakers, and also included a buzzer-beater by Kobe Bryant in Los Angeles as the young Kings struggled to close out games.

''We definitely need to get better and get a couple of more wins especially in the games where we lost by one or two points,'' guard Beno Udrih said. ''I mean I think there were 20 games like that. We have to learn from last year. At times we came into the games and it was like we have this one, but we basically lost. Those are little things but we have to get better if we want to win a couple more games.''

The Kings hope a full season from forward Carl Landry, the addition of veteran defensive center Samuel Dalembert and more experience from the young players will allow that to happen.

''By what I can see now, we got the shooters, we got the guys who can slash, we can run the floor, and we got the tenacity,'' Dalembert said. ''All I think we need more is the leadership and discipline and we will be all right.''