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The Sacramento Kings have been struggling to find rhythm, not to mention wins, since the 2010-11 season began.

 

Currently, their 5-22 record places them dead last in the Western Conference standings; further, they have the fewest wins of any NBA team.  They have won only one game in the past 16 outings.  Last year at this point, they had a record of 13-14.  The team went on to end the season with a 25-57 record, which placed them in 14^th place in the Western Conference.

 

True, there are still 55 games yet to be played.  However, an emerging pattern has developed; a rather surprising pattern actually, given the hopes pinned on the young team for the new season.  In too many games to count, the team shows competitive play in the first half, then appears to collapse – looking fatigued and offensively stagnant – in the second half.  How can a team that boasts an average age of 25 years old be tired?  We’re just now approaching the one-third mark of the total games to be played this season.

 

It appears many factors are at play here, starting with the health of the Kings’ star player, 21-year-old guard Tyreke Evans.

 

The NBA’s 2009-2010 Rookie of the Year finished last season averaging 20.1 points per game, 5.8 assists and 5.3 rebounds.  This impressive line propelled Evans into the history books, joining Michael Jordan, Oscar Robertson and LeBron James as the only rookies to average at least 20 points, five assists and five rebounds in their rookie year.

 

Evans scored an invite to join Team USA’s training camp last July, but failed to make the team after spraining his left ankle in the first day of practice.  He turned both ankles in a preseason game; then in late November, Evans disclosed that he had been dealing with plantar fasciitis in his left foot all season.  A check his of career stats reveals current numbers far from the levels of what was expected of Evans this season:
 

Year	Team	G	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	OFF	DEF	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TO	PF	PPG
09-10	SAC	72	72	37.2	0.458	0.255	0.748	0.9	4.4	5.3	5.8	1.5	0.4	3.00	2.83	20.1
10-11	SAC	25	25	36.4	0.376	0.265	0.755	0.8	4.0	4.8	5.2	1.4	0.4	3.28	2.56	16.2

It’s no secret that head coach Paul Westphal was disappointed by the physical condition in which some of the Kings players reported to training camp.  Evans was 15 pounds heavier than his normal playing weight, and forward Donte Green showed up more than 25 pounds overweight, just to name a couple cases.  Players have now shed the weight, but valuable time was lost early on by the unplanned attention given to improving the conditioning of players.  Evans’ continuing injuries are compounding the second-half problems according to Westphal.

 

"He (Evans) has been fighting foot problems all year," shared Westphal with HOOPSWORLD in a recent pregame courtside interview.   "He’s not in as good a shape as he would like to be or we would like to have him be because of some of those issues."

 

"If a player is fighting an injury, sometimes it’s hard to stay on top of conditioning, because the body parts don’t work," Westphal continued.  "It can keep you from playing; it can keep you from doing a lot of significant exercise, too.  You try to keep the weight under control, you try to work on conditioning every chance you get and hope that it’s good enough, because time is your enemy."

 

Evans is definitely struggling on-court, and both he and his coach recently disclosed that off-court personal problems are affecting his play as well.  The issues, however, don’t end with him.  Some players look fatigued in the second half, they frequently show an inability to make needed in-game adjustments, and their inexperience seems to result in players doubting the system at times.

 

"I think it has to do with (players being) emotionally drained, especially how many games we’ve been ‘in’ (then lost)," shared Kings’ forward Jason Thompson.

 

"Games like that, especially early on in the season, it drains you emotionally," Thompson added.  "I don’t think fatigue-wise, physically at least, but mentally.  Stuff like that hurts."

 

{AUTHOR_BOX}Another factor is the shuffling around of players on this Kings roster, not to mention wide-ranging playing time for many players.  Building cohesiveness, chemistry and trust will surely take time using this method.  Thirteen players who were on the roster at various points last season are gone (Kevin Martin, Spencer Hawes, Andres Nocioni, Sean May, Sergio Rodriguez, Ime Udoka, Jon Brockman, Desmond Mason, Garrett Temple, Hilton Armstrong, Dominic McGuire, Kenny Thomas and Joey Dorsey), and eight news faces have appeared on this seasons’ roster at various times (2010 fifth overall draft pick DeMarcus Cousins, Samuel Dalembert, Luther Head, Jermaine Taylor, Pooh Jeter, Darnell Jackson, rookie Hassan Whiteside-assigned to NBADL and Antoine Wright-waived 11/29/10).

 

Westphal has been called upon by many lately to explain why his team struggles with closing games.  In recent interviews, fatigue has been among his listed concerns, but it appears he has reversed his thinking.

 

"I don’t think it’s fatigue because of too many games coming too fast or hitting the rookie wall or anything like that.  It’s mostly just some players have to fight to stay in shape a little harder, especially when they’re not playing as much," Westphal explained.

 

He absolutely will not buy into any possibility that the issue is mental.

 

Oklahoma City Thunder coach Scott Brooks thinks that toughness, both mentally and physically, is critical to combating fatigue in this game.

 

"That’s one thing that’s special about NBA players, you fight through a lot of things," Brooks told us.  "You don’t think you have it in you, and they somehow, someway muster enough energy to win the game, to stay competitive to give your team a chance.  Every team has the same issues.  It’s not just a veteran team or a young team."

 

"If you give into fatigue, you lose every time," added Brooks. "You have another shot of winning the game if you don’t let your body and mind know you’re tired."

 

Westphal does admit Evans looks somewhat tired.  It was rumored that he would forgo playing in the recent three-game road trip (against Houston, New Orleans and Oklahoma City), but he sat out only during the Houston game.  In the five games since that Houston game, Evans has averaged over 38 minutes playing time (including an overtime loss); he averaged 15.4 ppg and posted a .312 field-goal shooting percentage.  In the last three games, the averages were an unbelievably disappointing 11.0 ppg and .221 FG%.

 

One wonders if the Kings might be better off resting Evans’ foot for a few games.

 

"If he feels good enough, he wants to play and we want him to play.  The doctors don’t believe there’s threat of further injury.  It’s just a matter whether he can perform with whatever discomfort he has," Westphal disclosed.

 

"We have the best training program you can possibly provide, and time is your enemy more than anything else, time and injuries," said the head coach, now in his second year with the franchise.

 

Then Westphal concluded our interview softly uttering these words about the physical demands of this game on players:  "It beats you up…beats the body up."