The Kings forward scores 25 points in the latest loss.
By Sam Amick - Bee Staff Writer
Last Updated 7:14 am PST Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Story appeared in SPORTS section, Page C5
[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]NEW YORK -- This, he can still do.
Post up, shake the shoulders, pick a direction and find the net. Yet not since last season's playoff series against San Antonio has Kings forward Shareef Abdur-Rahim scored with such proficiency, finishing with a season-high 25 points on 9-of-16 shooting against New York at Madison Square Garden on Monday afternoon.
It was by far his most productive outing since he replaced Kenny Thomas in the starting lineup four games ago, though not enough as he and Kevin Martin (30 points) were without much offensive help in the Kings' 102-97 loss.
"That's my game," Abdur-Rahim said. "I feel like I can do that. It ain't gone nowhere."
The quandary for Kings coach Eric Musselman, Abdur-Rahim said, is that he is only one of the many players who wish to be utilized more offensively.
"I hope so," Abdur-Rahim said when asked if he thought the performance would result in increased offensive involvement. "I don't know. I mean I've been on teams where I was the only option, really, who can get shots for himself. And sometimes I think we've got so many guys that a guy can get lost in the shuffle. I guess maybe we need to find a balance."
When the balance shifted toward Abdur-Rahim, Thomas was the one heading the other direction. In the last four games, Thomas is averaging just 11.8 minutes. Meanwhile, Abdur-Rahim had scored in single digits three times in the past four games. The Kings had lost three of five games when the lineup change was made.
"When you're not winning at the rate that you'd like to, you're going to make changes," Musselman said. "We're going to keep trying to figure it out rather than rolling it out there with the same group every night, just like the rotations have changed as well."
Travel headache -- As if the three-hour time change wasn't enough of an adjustment, the 1 p.m. Eastern tipoff time meant the Kings arrived to the Garden at the equivalent of 8 a.m. West Coast time.
To combat the scheduling quirk, the team took a red-eye flight Saturday night from Sacramento and arrived early Sunday morning. While Kings center Brad Miller missed the flight out and his second game due to personal reasons, he did arrive in New York City on Monday and is expected to play Wednesday in Toronto.
"When the schedule came out, it was a concern," Musselman said. "It's a hard game when it's a 7 o'clock start, not just for the Kings but any team in the league. It's just one of those games in that, in the course of an 82-game season, you understand that there are adverse circumstances."
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By Sam Amick - Bee Staff Writer
Last Updated 7:14 am PST Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Story appeared in SPORTS section, Page C5
[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]NEW YORK -- This, he can still do.
Post up, shake the shoulders, pick a direction and find the net. Yet not since last season's playoff series against San Antonio has Kings forward Shareef Abdur-Rahim scored with such proficiency, finishing with a season-high 25 points on 9-of-16 shooting against New York at Madison Square Garden on Monday afternoon.
It was by far his most productive outing since he replaced Kenny Thomas in the starting lineup four games ago, though not enough as he and Kevin Martin (30 points) were without much offensive help in the Kings' 102-97 loss.
"That's my game," Abdur-Rahim said. "I feel like I can do that. It ain't gone nowhere."
The quandary for Kings coach Eric Musselman, Abdur-Rahim said, is that he is only one of the many players who wish to be utilized more offensively.
"I hope so," Abdur-Rahim said when asked if he thought the performance would result in increased offensive involvement. "I don't know. I mean I've been on teams where I was the only option, really, who can get shots for himself. And sometimes I think we've got so many guys that a guy can get lost in the shuffle. I guess maybe we need to find a balance."
When the balance shifted toward Abdur-Rahim, Thomas was the one heading the other direction. In the last four games, Thomas is averaging just 11.8 minutes. Meanwhile, Abdur-Rahim had scored in single digits three times in the past four games. The Kings had lost three of five games when the lineup change was made.
"When you're not winning at the rate that you'd like to, you're going to make changes," Musselman said. "We're going to keep trying to figure it out rather than rolling it out there with the same group every night, just like the rotations have changed as well."
Travel headache -- As if the three-hour time change wasn't enough of an adjustment, the 1 p.m. Eastern tipoff time meant the Kings arrived to the Garden at the equivalent of 8 a.m. West Coast time.
To combat the scheduling quirk, the team took a red-eye flight Saturday night from Sacramento and arrived early Sunday morning. While Kings center Brad Miller missed the flight out and his second game due to personal reasons, he did arrive in New York City on Monday and is expected to play Wednesday in Toronto.
"When the schedule came out, it was a concern," Musselman said. "It's a hard game when it's a 7 o'clock start, not just for the Kings but any team in the league. It's just one of those games in that, in the course of an 82-game season, you understand that there are adverse circumstances."
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