Team Needs: Backup Small Forward
CelticsBlog — ... .  Ainge already looked into picking up Andres Nocioni.  Both options add long term contracts and effectively end Wyc's dream of clearing cap room for next year's free agent class (though I'm not sure how realistic that really is).  ...

The Kings Don't Need Another Center
Sactown Royalty — ... (7.9%) had a rebound rate better than 6.5%. Even among the small forwards, only Andres Nocioni (11.4%) rates as a better rebounder now than Evans' projects. If Evans starts at the point with Hawes/Thompson up front, Nocioni at the three and ...

Post-Draft Team Salaries
Sactown Royalty — ... $9,680,170 $10,600,005 $11,519,840 $12,439,675 Kenny Thomas, F $8,775,000 Andres Nocioni, F $7,500,000 $6,850,000 $6,650,000 ...

Chasing Knicks: David Lee and Nate Robinson in Sacramento
Sactown Royalty — ... was a member of Garcia's unit a good deal of time, and also Andres Nocioni while Garcia filled in for injured Kevin Martin. Garcia can score more, and he had a higher usage rate in 2007-08. But the defensive contributions and (again, silly I know) the locker room impact really make Garcia a valuable member of the roster. ...

It's A Virtue
Sactown Royalty — ... is another young player, taken late in the first round of last year's draft.  I'm not saying he'll be a bust, I'm not saying he won't be a bust.  I'm saying he played limited minutes in one season, it is too early to pass judgment. We must also practice some patience when we're considering free agents and trades.  There's been a lot of talk about trading players.  Kevin Martin, Beno Udrih, Andres Nocioni, Jason Thompson, Spencer Hawes, and Donté have all been ...

14 Worst NBA Contracts
Sactown Royalty — ... Grizzlies Zach Randolph: 2 years, $33.3M Comment: Did I mention the ghost of Isaiah anywhere in this post? Utah Jazz Andrei Kirilenko: 2 years, $34.3M Comment: Didn't this guy used to be good? Indiana Pacers Troy Murphy/Mike Dunleavy: $43.4M guaranteed over the next two years Comment: Horrible contracts by Chris Mullin. Worse acquisition by Larry Bird. Sacramento Kings Beno Udrih/Andres Nocioni: $47.8M guaranteed over the next four years Comment: Nuff ...

'The Kings Would Starve'
Sactown Royalty — ... Beno Udrih 1.3 6.16% 1.7 Bobby Jackson 1.2 5.69% 1.57 Andres Nocioni 0.9 4.27% 1.18 ...

Q-Rich trade possibilties
Canis Hoopus — I don't have much in the way of suggestions but I thought it would be helpful to those of our readers who do to put up a list of modest to decent sized trade exceptions from around the league in anticipation of a possible Richardson trade later this week (the really good ones are highlighted...below the fold): Charlotte: $1.2 mil for Jared Dudley, expires 12/10/09 Chicago: $1.9 mil for Andres Nocioni, expires 2/19/10 $1.9 mil for Thabo Sefolosha, expires 2/19/10 ...

Kings Abroad
Sactown Royalty — ... Beno Udrih, Slovenia Beno has rejoined the Slovenian team this summer after taking 2008 off. Slovenia will compete at Eurobasket in Group B, which includes Germany, Croatia and Turkey. The top six finishers iamong all 16 teams will qualify for the 2010 Worlds. The Slovenians are currently playing warm-ups, and Beno has played well (nine assists) in his one start. His brother Samo also plays for Slovenia, and they'll have Sasha Vujacic as well. Andres Nocioni, Argentina Despite falling to bronze in Beijing four ...

Tiago Splitter @ FIBA Americas 2009
Pounding The Rock — ... Without Team USA in the tournament, Brazil is considered as one of the favorites to win it all and qualify early for the Olympics. Of course, PtR favorite and perennial contender Argentina is also in the mix despite missing the services of the beloved god of sexy, Manu Ginobili, new Wizard and former Spur Fabricio Oberto, and other NBA’ers Andres Nocioni and Carlos Delfino. Dominican Republic is also fielding a strong team led by twitterer extraordinaire Charlie Villanueva-Mejia (Pistons), Al Horford ...

30Q: Can Omri Casspi Contribute From Day 1?
Sactown Royalty — ... (a top 20 NBA offensive rebounder last season) per minute. Casspi ranked fifth on the team in per-game rebounding, with 4.4 in 22 minutes. That translates to roughly 7.2 rebounds per 36 minutes; for contrast, that outpaces every 2008-09 Kings small forward (including Andres Nocioni, who averaged 7 reb/36 min). This is summer league, yes, but there are plenty of great rebounders in summer league. Like, you know, Hoss Brockman and Bob Battle. ...

30Q: How Much Will Injuries Affect the Kings?
Sactown Royalty — ... injuries; that the Kings injuries have kept the team under water isn't particularly noteworthy. The specific issue is that Sacramento has a shallow talent pool. When the [redacted] lose Bynum, they can start Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom up front. When the Kings lose Kevin Martin, Rashad McCants is getting 30 minutes a night. When Manu's out, the Spurs have Tony Parker and Tim Duncan (and now Richard Jefferson). When Martin's out, Andres Nocioni and Spencer Hawes pick up the slack. So, in ...

30Q: Will Smallball Return to Sacramento?
Sactown Royalty — ... 30Q asks the important questions about the Kings all through September. Last year, Kings fans got a tiny taste of giantball -- when Brad Miller, Spencer Hawes and Jason Thompson all player together -- but more often a dose of smallball, with Andres Nocioni, Francisco Garcia and Donte Greene getting some minutes at power forward. According to 82games.com, Garcia received 7% of the team's allotted power forward minutes. Nocioni took 8% of ...

30Q: Should Andres Nocioni Be Traded?
Sactown Royalty — ... 30Q asks the important questions about the Kings all through September. Andres Nocioni was the only player acquired by the Kings in 2008-09 with a long-term contract. In the deal which sent Brad Miller and John Salmons to Chicago, Sacramento basically received cap space ... and Nocioni. Because of his contract, the Kings actually take on additional salary in comparison with the Salmons/Miller package in the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons. The move cut costs in ...

30Q: Will the Kings Be a Good Three-Point Shooting Team?
Sactown Royalty — ... we see exactly how the Kings offense will work (or attempt to work). Should Tyreke Evans take the reins early, the team could very well be focused on slashing and finishing rather than swinging the ball. There's also the matter of where on the court Paul Westphal will primarily station Spencer Hawes (who vacillated between the post and the perimeter under Reggie Theus and Kenny Natt). Finally, the small forward rotation matters quite a bit: Francisco Garcia and Andres Nocioni shoot from deep regularly, but Desmond Mason does ...

30Q: Can the Kings' Defense Possibly Be That Bad Again?
Sactown Royalty — ... showing that there is plenty of variability in the statistic leaguewide. In all likelihood, and though leaguewide shooting typically improves year-to-year, it seems unlikely the Kings will again allow opponents to shoot 40% from three. So there's some improvement there. We have discussed defensive rebounding, and I believe it's a good opportunity for defensive improvement on this team. Sean May and Jon Brockman are big improvements over Mikki Moore on the boards; Andres Nocioni, Omri Casspi and Donte Greene would all be ...

The View From Section 214, Special Section 104 Practice Edition
Sactown Royalty — ... ·         Andres Nocioni even complains to practice referees. ...

On Desmond Mason's Defense
Sactown Royalty — ... Mason than without. This wedged Mason in the 71st percentile among small forwards, which is to say Mason's defense rated better than 71% of the NBA small forwards in 2007-08. (For what it's worth, by Witus's numbers, Kevin Martin rated as the league's third worst shooting guard defensively and Ron Artest rated as the league's fifth best small forward defensively. Martin was the No. 8 shooting guard offensively. Francisco Garcia rated rather poorly defensively, and Andres Nocioni rated just below average defensively.) * ...

Greg Oden, Blazers Squash Kings 98-86
Sactown Royalty — ... rookies ain't supposed to give stable performances, right? Omri was the best small forward in Kings purple last night, according to the box score. In fact, let's rank them thusly: Omri Casspi Francisco Garcia (33 min, 7 points on six shooting possessions, seven rebounds, two assists, one steal, one turnover, one foul) Donte Greene (eight min, 0 points on two shots, one of which was a three, one rebounds, two steals, one turnover) Andres Nocioni (17 min, two points on eight shots, four rebounds, two ...

Preview: Blazers at Kings, Preseason Game 2
Sactown Royalty — ... On the topic of the small forward position, I do hope Andres Nocioni gets the night off so that Casspi can get big minutes early. Westphal said through camp that Casspi would be a project; Casspi promptly aced his first game experience. It's up to Casspi to prove he can't do it before Westphal can bury him going into the regular season. (Yes, it's just been one exhibition game, but it's bizarro Douby at this point. Douby lit up practice but sucked during gameplay; Casspi has reportedly been uneven in practice -- though that's been a bit debated, he ...

What the Kings Need From a Small Forward
Sactown Royalty — ... . Jones susses out what exactly each option (other than Andres Nocioni, who will be the team's first wing off the bench) can bring. For ...

Meet Your Three-Guard Lineup
Sactown Royalty — ... Jason Jones of The Bee has some news from Sunday's practice on how Paul Westphal plans to address the Francisco Garcia injury. Insert Andres Nocioni as a starter? Nope. Pray Desmond Mason's back spasms disappear and his body as a whole holds up? Nope. Put your eggs in the Omri Casspi/Donte Greene basket? Nope. Stick your three best guards on the floor in the same lineup? Yep. Jones reports Westphal plans to rely heavily on the three-guard lineup of Kevin Martin, ...

The View from Section 115, Row B aka "Seats Kenny Thomas would like"
Sactown Royalty — ... Andres Nocioni: For only three minutes, Noc had a rough game.  He actually seemed worse on defense than much of the team, and couldn't stop several Warriors.  He was a key reason why the Warriors were able to battle back in the 2nd quarter. ...

Game Thread: Suns vs Kings
Bright Side Of The Sun — ... 222 6-5 Oklahoma State Sean May 42 F 4.4.84 266 6-9 North Carolina Andres Nocioni 5 F 11.30.79 225 6-7 None ...

'Miss You!,' Kevin Martin Calls Out to Dick Bavetta As Suns Smack Kings 143-127
Sactown Royalty — ... as a starter for a little while, so long as Westphal is convinced Andres Nocioni shouldn't start. If you put Mason on the bench, he's irrelevant and completely wasted -- you might as well cut him. The bench actually does need scoring help, as Nocioni is having a rough time getting into gear and as Sean May will likely see limited minutes (though it's increasingly clear he'll be the first big in the game). Casspi could very well be a more disrupting defender than Mason at this point, but Omri is proving he can make a huge impact from the bench. Mason might ...

Kings 104, Thunder 89 - Preseason win total doubled!
Sactown Royalty — ... Let’s start with the guy that played the best ball when it mattered the most. Andres Nocioni came off the bench in the first half and helped stake the Kings to a 14 point halftime lead. Noc made shots from everywhere, grabbed rebounds, dished out assists, and generally pissed off the ...

Preview: Kings at Hornets
Sactown Royalty — ... Pick the time in the game that the following will happen – Sean May gets his first rebound of the season. Tyreke Evans shoots a layup. Tyreke Evans makes a layup. Jason Thompson gets called for his first foul. Jason Thompson actually commits his first foul. Spencer Hawes enters the game. Spencer Hawes pisses off someone within the game thread. Kevin Martin draws his first foul. Andres Nocioni draws his first blood. We make our first basket. ...

Game Preview #3: Sacramento Kings @ San Antonio Spurs - Scare Tactics
Pounding The Rock — ... here, but I'm going with Andres Nocioni, whose aggressive, attacking game I admire. He might lead our little Princess to places he might not want to go tonight, but we all know Alice prevails in the end. ...

Preview and Game Thread #5: Atlanta Hawks @ Sacramento Kings
Peachtree Hoops — ... . I mean that in the best possible way. I hate how Kevin Martin shoots 20 free throws every time we play him and Andres Nocioni goes crazy and makes everyone try and ...

Kings Crumble in Fourth, Fall to Atlanta 113-105
Sactown Royalty — ... especially for someone like Evans. In three of five games this season, including Wednesday's Atlanta game, Evans has only drawn two free throw attempts. For a player whose offense should be completely based on getting to the rim, that's too few. Al Horford and Josh Smith blocked him a few times, and perhaps that aided the decision to fire away from long range. But Evans needs to make better decisions. He has a few quality scorers on the court with him, between Martin, Thompson, Hawes, Andres Nocioni and ...

A Young Team With an Aversion to Youth
Sactown Royalty — ... the halycon Death to Z-Bo 2006-07, 32-win season. Udoka spent the last two seasons as a Bowen Memorial player off the bench in San Antonio. Portland brought him to camp this fall but cut him, and no one had been rumored to give him a serious nibble in the two weeks since. Except Sacramento. Before Udoka, the Kings could be considered deep at two positions: point guard (Tyreke Evans, Beno Udrih, Sergio Rodriguez) and small forward (Andres Nocioni, Omri Casspi, Desmond Mason, Donte Greene). ...

GAME THREAD: Game 5- Golden State Warriors @ Sacramento Kings- JUST WIN IT (seriously)
Golden State Of Mind — ... 50.0 1.0 1.2 83.3 0.4 1.4 1.8 3.2 1.6 0.6 0.2 1.8 10.8 Andres Nocioni 6 24.3 3.7 8.5 43.1 1.7 ...

Preview: Warriors at Kings, Game 7
Sactown Royalty — ... right now. So I'm going to go with "no" as an answer as to whether ARCO will be filled with either side. It's too bad, because a full crowd split between Warriors and Kings fan is dynamic. It's like heat mixed with precipitation -- a thunderstorm. Small crowds on each side is more like morning fog. BOLD PROCLAMATION Spencer Hawes, Thompson and one other King will all register at least eight rebounds. That other King could be: * Tyreke Evans. * Andres Nocioni. * Kenny Thomas. * Jon Brockman ...

The Ghost of Bobcats Future Trades
Rufus on Fire — ... in any deal, which makes no sense for the Cats, because Andres Nocioni's deal is only one year longer than Radmanovic's and Mohammed's (not worth it for Sacto), and ...

Preview: Rockets at Kings
Sactown Royalty — ... might be forced to turn to smallball featuring Andres Nocioni at the power forward early on. In the backcourt, I imagine it will be Brooks/ ...

Jason Thompson, Foul Machine
Sactown Royalty — ... a 21.6 PER so far this season, Thompson is proving to be a valuable asset that needs to be on the court. Last year, JT averaged 6.5 fouls per 48 minutes, and was only able to play 28.1 minutes a game, which--being plenty of playing time for a rookie--was surely lower than it would have been had he been able to curb the fouls a bit. That foul rate was actually 18th-worst in the league--bad, but not as horrible or "telling" as leading the league in fouls seemingly was. As a side note, Andres Nocioni finished 21st in 2008-2009 with 6.3 fouls per 48 minutes. ...

Game Preview #10: Bulls at Sacramento Kings
Blog a Bull — ... ) so far, but have managed their own 5-4 start. I was told I could not make fun of Brad Miller writing this preview. (Boo!) However, it's clear Miller is happier in Chicago than he was in Sacramento at the end of his stay, and the early returns of Andres Nocioni in Sacramento have worked out pretty well all told. The stars of the Kings team are Tyreke Evans and ...

The Latest Nocioni Rumor
CelticsBlog — ... scoop on TrueHoop. There is some hope, according to NBA front-office sources, for a three-way deal that is currently in the exploratory-discussion phase. Sources told ESPN.com that the Philadelphia 76ers and Sacramento Kings, in considering the feasibility of a Samuel Dalembert-for-Kenny Thomas swap, have discussed expanding that concept with Boston by trying to draw in the Celtics on a potential three-way deal that would land Andres Nocioni with the Celts. Sources further stressed over the past 48 ...

The Prospect of, Um, Samuel Dalembert
Sactown Royalty — ... in a deal that would bring centre (boom!) Samuel Dalembert to Sacramento with Kenny Thomas and Andres Nocioni departing. Essentially, it brings in Dalembert, whose defense is well-reputed but whose offense and sometimes attitude is disastrous, for two seasons while cutting some salary off this season's ledger and freeing the team from Nocioni's longer contract. Here are the full contract details for the only three players who matter to Sacramento. (Boston, who would receive Nocioni, would also send a couple of dudes to Philly.) As always with matters of ...

Game Preview #10: Chicago Bulls vs. Los Angeles Lakers
Blog a Bull — ... This is both good and bad for us. It's good because Ariza is playing pretty well in Houston, and Artest is both regressing and in the first year of a 5-year deal. Think of Ron Artest as the Lakers' answer to Andres Nocioni, bad-signing-wise: only they could've had a cheaper and better version of him for the same price. Maybe, when we're peaking in two years with Joe Johnson and Rose in our 4th-seed-at-best lineup monstrosity, the Lakers will be weaker. ...

Prowling the NBA: Nov 20 - Who Authored This Rewrite?
Canis Hoopus — ... Nellie and the whole front office need to go away." A final comment was that they believed the next step is trading Randolph and Curry for a bag of peanuts. I quickly supplied that the Wolves have peanuts they would be willing to trade. But speaking of trades, here's one out of left field... The Kings, Sixers and Celtics are reportedly talking trade: The summary of it is- Kings Get: F/C Samuel Dalembert, G/F J.R. Giddens Celtics Get: F Andres Nocioni 76ers: G/F Tony Allen, F Brian Scalabrine, F Kenny ...

Mavericks Vanquish Kings 104-102
Sactown Royalty — ... Of course, that wasn't enough. Terry hit for 12 points in the fourth, and Kidd had a big three-pointer (his fifth of the game) late. Dirk Nowitzki -- the axe, in our opening metaphor -- was kept under wraps, limited to 20 points on 6-15 shooting. Credit Andres Nocioni and Jason Thompson for keeping Dirk out of his comfort zone, for the most part. Nowitzki's used to making tough shots, but the Kings made many of them too tough while also working hard to limit his attempts by bringing a keep double (often Evans off of Kidd, which didn't exactly work in terms ...

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly Week 5
Sactown Royalty — ... a little better, although he does still have a problem with getting into foul trouble (5 fouls in all 3 games last week).  His footwork still needs to improve.  He's back to leading the league in fouls with 4.5 a game, and if he wants to become an All-Star, he needs to be able to stay in the games.  So far its been an up and down season for JT, although he's been more consistent than Spencer, and I'm sure we'll see more up weeks from him than down weeks. 4. Andres Nocioni Noc didn't play all that well this week, and especially ...

Post-Game Thread: Hornets at Kings
Sactown Royalty — ... 0.0 4.1 5.1 80.3 3.9 5.3 9.3 2.2 1.8 0.6 1.3 4.5 13.5 Andres Nocioni 14 27.0 4.2 10.0 42.1 1.4 ...