Sacramento Kings Getting Inside 2009-10-02 News Sacramento kings

When Francisco Garcia and Beno Udrih suffered injuries with their respective national teams this month, it was an unwelcome early reminder to the Kings of the reality that faces them in the coming season.

Of all the league's 30 teams, they may have the least leeway for injuries. With so many of their 13 players long on youth and short on experience, mistakes will happen on a consistent basis. They will be trying to bridge the widest of talent gaps as well, with the drafting of Tyreke Evans out of the University of Memphis in June helping that cause but some ways to go still. But matters could be quickly made worse if any relevant Kings are missing early on, as evidenced by their disastrous 2008-09 season.

It began with the five-game suspension of former Kings center Brad Miller, who violated the league's substance-abuse policy and served his sentence at the outset. Then just two games after Miller had returned, Kings shooting guard Kevin Martin suffered the left ankle injury that would plague him all season long. The downturn didn't take long, with the Kings starting the season 7-24 and limping to the finish from there.

Udrih and Garcia are expected to be healthy for training camp. The Kings can only hope the training room stays empty from then on as well.