Sacramento Kings 04/05 Team

The Sacramento Kings have a new team this year and just over a quarter of the way into the season they seem to be traveling pretty well. However, much like the last four seasons, they have another injury set back. This time it's Bobby Jackson who will be out for about 3 months and will hopefully be back in time for the playoffs.

The team has had to deal with major injuries in the last four seasons. Chris Webber (the man), Peja Stojakovic and Bobby Jackson have all had long term injuries in recent seasons and there's also been lesser injuries to Mike Bibby and Doug Christie as well. Despite all this, they continue to be consistent and win big games.

The depth of the team this year isn't as great as it's been. In the past the Kings have had Hedo Turkoglu or Jim Jackson bringing great scoring of the bench, Scott Pollard bringing his strong rebounding and hussle off the bench and other guys like the super athletic Gerald Wallace or Lawrence Funderburke bringing high flying dunks or solid post up play to the game. This year the bench talent has been substituted with second rate players such as Greg "Postertag" Ostertag, the longest serving hack in the league who brings his ability to.... um... be tall and stand in the middle of the key and take up space. He's definitely not the right fit for the Kings who are known for their fast half court offence and quick passing skills.

One of the worst things to happen to the Kings this year is losing one of the cornerstones of the team, Vlade Divac. Although Vlade wasn't putting up huge numbers everygame, he showed his value when Chris Webber was out by taking up the slack that CWebb's absence had left. Vlade was racking up huge numbers of assists to go with his rebounds and points and managed to pick up triple doubles in a few games. Vlade is one of the most skilled big men in the game and his presence in the Sacramento Kings locker room has often been mentioned by players. He is a true professional and a very good veteran to have on your team. He's always seemed very grounded so it's unfortunate that he went to the Lakers where he'll have to put up with Kobe Bryant, a great player but also a major knob jockey. It's obvious Kobe bases his play on MJ but he's not even close to being as good as MJ was. Without Shaq by his side he'd still be battling to get past the first round of the playoffs. Something that will hit home hard over the next couple of seasons.

All in all, Sacramento still have a great team. The starting five are very tight and each player is capable of having big games of 20-plus on any given night but without the strong bench that's been there to back them up in the past, they will struggle to get to the finals this year.

They have consistently been the best team over the last 5 years or so but injuries have prevented them from going all the way. This year will be another one of those struggles now that Bobby Jackson is out but it hasn't stopped the Kings from progressing in the past and I doubt that it will now either. The new guys like Maurice Evans, Matt Barnes, Darius Songaila, Kevin Martin and Eric Daniels will need to step up and fill the void while Bobby Jackson is out.

Will this be the year? It seems less promising than previous years but maybe this year, there'll be some luck on the Kings side.