Recently, I was talking with Jerry Reynolds, the Kings' director of player personnel, about how this year's team was more fun to watch.
Though the Kings are 1-4, they scrap for the ball, hustle and seem to put out a better effort. Last season, they didn't seem this exciting.
We agreed the biggest reason for this is new coach Paul Westphal. But not because of his work as coach of the Suns or SuperSonics or his front-office duties with the Mavericks.
The best preparation Westphal had was his years as a college coach at Southwestern College and Grand Canyon College in Phoenix, and at Pepperdine.
His first two college jobs were at small schools, but he found success at both. Most notably, he led Grand Canyon to the 1988 NAIA Tournament championship before becoming a Suns assistant.
I questioned his ability to relate to a Kings team with seven players born after 1986. That college experience has given Westphal a way to get the players listening to him. He has shown the patience to handle a rebuilding roster.
Despite the team's recent woes on and off the court, it looks like he has gone back to college to rebuild a pro team.
What to surf
http://athletics.gcu.edu: Westphal's former school is now known as Grand Canyon University.
What to watch
College football, LSU at Alabama, 12:30 p.m., Ch. 13: This one is for the Southeastern Conference East title.
What to do
College football, Cal Poly at UC Davis, Aggie Stadium, 1 p.m.: Two UC schols meet in a Great West Conference game.
The last word
What you're saying on sacbee.com comments: "Now that Martin won't be the whole offense, we can see who will step up." – sacgreek on "Martin may be out 6-8 weeks."
What You Should Know About Comments on Sacbee.com
Sacbee.com is happy to provide a forum for reader interaction, discussion, feedback and reaction to our stories. However, we reserve the right to delete inappropriate comments or ban users who can't play nice. (See our full terms of service here.)
Here are some rules of the road:
• Keep your comments civil. Don't insult one another or the subjects of our articles. If you think a comment violates our guidelines click the "report abuse" button to notify the moderators. Responding to the comment will only encourage bad behavior.
• Don't use profanities, vulgarities or hate speech. This is a general interest news site. Sometimes, there are children present. Don't say anything in a way you wouldn't want your own child to hear.
• Do not attack other users; focus your comments on issues, not individuals.
• Stay on topic. Only post comments relevant to the article at hand. If you want to discuss an issue with a specific user, click on his profile name and send him a direct message.
• Do not copy and paste outside material into the comment box.
• Don't repeat the same comment over and over. We heard you the first time.
• Do not use the commenting system for advertising. That's spam and it isn't allowed.
• Don't use all capital letters. That's akin to yelling and not appreciated by the audience.
You should also know that The Sacramento Bee does not screen comments before they are posted. You are more likely to see inappropriate comments before our staff does, so we ask that you click the "report abuse" button to submit those comments for moderator review. You also may notify us via email at feedback@sacbee.com. Note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us the profile name of the user who made the comment. Remember, comment moderation is subjective. You may find some material objectionable that we won't and vice versa.
If you submit a comment, the user name of your account will appear along with it. Users cannot remove their own comments once they have submitted them, but you may ask our staff to retract one of your comments by sending an email to feedback@sacbee.com. Again, make sure you note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us your profile name.
About Comments
Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.