The Sports Informant

Take the worst NBA team in the league a year ago, injure its star player five games into the following season, injure its star sixth-man before the regular season even begins, arrest one of the players supposed to turnaround the program and what do you get? You get a team with virtually no shot at success.

Yet, somehow, amidst the wealth of drama surrounding the Sacramento Kings, the NBA’s worst team a season ago is finding ways to win.

The tragedies of a couple of situations and the stupidity of another cast a cloud over Sacramento, yet the adversity has forced players to shine through the darkness, and they are.

After starting a season full of optimism began with an 0-3 record, the Kings won three of their last four games, and with a head full of steam, are looking to jump to .500 on the year against Oklahoma City on Nov. 10. For the wins to start piling up, though, it took the roster crumbling down first.

Beno Udrih has been impressive in his return to the starting lineup. (Photo courtesy Greg Ashman)

Before the regular season could even begin, valuable swingman and Sacramento’s sixth man Francisco Garcia broke his right forearm while lifting weights. Out four months, he’s expected to come back around the All-Star break. That could have been a devastating enough blow for the team’s success.

It got much worse when star player and leading scorer Kevin Martin suffered a non-displaced hairline fracture of the navicular bone on his left wrist last week, forcing him to have surgery, where he’ll miss at least eight weeks of play. He was the sole reason the Kings pulled off their first win of the season, scoring 48 points in a 127-116 overtime win over the Memphis Grizzlies on Nov. 2.

The Kings then requested waivers on Desmond Mason, an athletic guard fans thought might make a huge impact for the team. Mason’s departure made room for guard-forward Ime Udoka to join the team.

Finally, the week rounded out with a bonehead move, as Sacramento King Andres Nocioni was arrested for a DUI. Things couldn’t have gotten gloomier in Sacramento.

And for once, they didn’t…

The Kings bounced back with a shot of adrenaline, like they’d been jolted from the dead. With a new makeshift lineup, Sacramento rattled off four straight 100-point-plus performances, getting three valuable wins along the way. The home opener thrilled fans, but it’s how the Kings have responded even after that has been most impressive.

With Martin’s departure from the starting lineup came Beno Udrih’s resurgence. The once shamed point guard took the shooting guard role and shined, scoring 15 points against Utah on Nov. 7 on 6-12 shooting, and an impressive 20 points on 9-14 shooting against Golden State on Nov. 8. Critics, be silenced, at least for now.

The rest of the team stepped up, too. Against Utah, five players scored in double figures, including a 12-point, 11 rebound performance by Jason Thompson. Against Golden State, seven players scored in double figures for the Kings, and both Omri Casspi and Thompson poured in double-doubles.

But most impressive has been the play of the rookies. Tyreke Evans has embraced Martin’s absence as a call to lead, and he’s done so brilliantly, scoring a career-high 32 points against the Jazz with seven assists, along with 23 points and eight rebounds against the Warriors. Casspi, meanwhile, put up a 20-point, 10-rebound performance against Golden State, the fourth time he’s scored in double figures.

It seems as though the Kings have found a groove. It just took their system going completely haywire to find it.

A win tomorrow could avenge the season-opening loss and put the Kings where they’d be happy finishing the season: even.