The Sports Informant

It’s like beating a dead horse sometimes. How often can columnists write about the Kings losing? About how they are underachieving? About how fans are struggling to stay loyal?

Not enough, apparently. I read two columns this morning on such topics, and it’s hard not to weigh in on the matter myself. But I’ll make a bold statement to make reading about it again worthwhile: The Kings actually hurt themselves by winning to start the season.

It doesn’t make much sense at first glance, but it’s true. A fantastic start by the young team has done more bad than good this season, and now, when the Kings are back to their usual routine of more losing streaks than individual wins, the sting is being felt a lot more than it should have.

Sacramento rookie Omri Casspi falls to the ground as he drives to the basket. (Photo courtesy Dave Heylen)

From the outside looking in, the Kings aren’t in too bad of shape. They are young and strong, healthy and improving. They are 16-34, only one win away from tying all of last year’s victories, and it’s not even the NBA’s All-Star Break yet.

But insiders know better. Fans that were close to jumping off the bandwagon leapt back on faithfully after an incredible and surprising start to the season. The Kings won 14 games in November and December alone and a .500 season actually seemed in the cards for a team expected to finish in the cellar again this season.

The victories were piling up under the leadership of a couple of rookies, and the Kings’ best player wasn’t even back from injured reserve yet. Things could only look brighter as the season progressed.

Then they won two of the 15 games in January. Ok, so a bad month, right? But they’ve started February 0-4, meaning the year 2010 has the Kings at 2-19 so far.

This is with the return of leading scorer Kevin Martin. This is without the excuse of tough road games, which was Sacramento’s seemingly only weakness in November and December. The Kings are losing everywhere now, and it’s starting to get ugly.

What was making the Kings successful in the early season – the ability to get leadership and scoring from multiple players on the roster – is now looking like lack of consistency and the inability to play as a team. What was once their strength is their weakness, and everyone in the NBA is capitalizing on it.

New coach Paul Westphal is trying to wrangle in his young players, but it’s hard in such a slump, especially with youth. Players want to pack it in and simply go through the motions, and without veteran leadership guiding them on the court, the result is more losses and less growth. The Kings are, ironically, suddenly shrinking.

Trade rumors are starting to swirl around the salvation of the rest of the season. What could have been the birth of a formidable formation on the court is turning into a puzzle no one can figure out how to put together. Pieces don’t fit, and it’s looking like some will have to be shipped out to bring in the right ones to do the job. Such distractions lead to more confusion and frustration, and the downward spiral gets harder to swim out of.

Sacramento should be thankful for the All-Star Weekend. Never has a team more needed a break than the Kings right now, and watching a few representatives (rookies Tyreke Evans and Omri Caspi, former King Chris Webber and former Monarch Nicole Powell) compete in the festivities will shed some positive light the way of Sacramento.

The rest and recovery can begin, and the switch to a team that wants to win again can begin. It’s only midseason, but the eyes of many are zoned in on Sacramento, where too much is on the line to fail. A new arena is in the works, a WNBA franchise has toppled to focus on the Kings, and the fans are hanging by a thread. The Kings need to do better.

The Kings are only two wins from topping last year’s effort. Unfortunately, that’s not saying much. Winning early has raised expectations to a level much higher than all anticipated at the start of the year. A rebuilding year with hope could suddenly look like another one of despair if things don’t turn around quickly. Because without a successful second half of the year, the worst thing imaginable will have happened to the Kings: nothing.

New coach, new team, new record … same old Kings.