it is a rough start to the season, and that strength of schedule is partly why i figured this team would not find the strides they're looking for. it wouldn't have been out of the realm of possibility for the kings to get clobbered in the opening stretch of 10, lose all confidence in themselves, and stumble their way through the remainder of the season. truthfully, and given the make-up of this roster heading into the season, i would have settled for a more organized offense and a team that gives effort every night on defense despite the losses...
but if these kings actually start to get it on the defensive end, and if the wins keep coming with a fair amount of regularity as a result, so much the better. there's pride on display here, and it starts with coach malone, demarcus cousins, and rudy gay. if that leadership trifecta continues to blossom, we should continue to see positive attitude shifts and good habits trickle down to the rest of the roster, as well. we've already seen darren collison assert himself as an additional leader in his short time with the team already, but his voice wouldn't hold as much weight if demarcus and rudy weren't also bought in as fiercely as they appear to be...
it's strange the way the wind blows, isn't it? if paul george doesn't suffer a catastrophic leg injury while playing for team USA, and if kevin durant doesn't get spooked out of participating as a result of that injury, then rudy gay likely isn't called up to team USA, and cousins and gay don't forge a tighter relationship as part of a winning culture, and aren't able to experience having an impact on that winning culture together. it's fair to say that it was a transformative experience for them both, and it's meant all the difference through these first few games. here's to hoping that some level of success can be sustained...
