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http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/basketball/kings/story/11677031p-12565981c.html
Ailene Voisin: Webber's new playing style brings rewards
By Ailene Voisin -- Bee Sports Columnist
Published 2:15 am PST Monday, December 6, 2004
The game has changed. No doubt about it. Instead of careening wildly into the third and perhaps final phase of his NBA career, Chris Webber is quietly and effectively testing his left knee, pressing his cause with a measured efficiency that is far more influential than any collection of bold pronouncements or acrobatic dunks.
This is below-the-rim brilliance.
This is new.
Though the cluster of scoring, passing and rebounding statistics is familiar, gone is the young athletic power forward who cradled lob passes in those massive hands of his, then routinely scored with astonishing, explosive ease. Gone, too, is the hobbled veteran who late last season performed on wounded knee, and who not unlike many ailing elite players stubbornly refused to accept a lesser role that would have benefited the team.
But this season he has it right. He has his game. He has the goods. Webber, who underwent the delicate microfracture procedure on his left knee in June 2003, is sharing and succeeding and soaring, with both feet firmly on the ground. After an offseason of additional rehabilitation, followed by early-season struggles and a scare prompted by occasional swelling in the knee, the 12th-year pro is performing at an All-Star level, and most impressively displaying an unselfishness and offensive balance that is essential to the Kings' success.
Without saying a word, with his performance serving as his microphone, he has become master of the house.
The Kings are his team. Again.
"Chris is doing what great players do," assistant coach Pete Carril observed. "He is passing the ball when he should and shooting the ball when he should, and that is one of the toughest things to learn. I don't know whether he experienced (an epiphany) early in the season or what. It could be that he's at peace with himself, or that he realizes the more you pass, the more you score. But I have definitely noticed a difference."
Who hasn't noticed the less-than-subtle shift in style? At some point these past several weeks, Webber eased into the role of facilitator, and not coincidentally elevated both his individual performance and that of his team; he is all about effectiveness now, his stats perhaps more meaningful than ever.
As the Kings distance themselves from their horrific start, he actively searches for cutters, strains to keep teammates involved and seems particularly intent on providing open looks for Peja Stojakovic, the league's second-leading scorer a year ago. Webber's tendency to monopolize the ball at the high post has been replaced by patience and prudence and a self-imposed discipline. His 19-footers are in rhythm, his rebounds in bunches, his lethal jump hooks plentiful. And in a half-court offense that is more methodical than in the recent past, in part because of his diminished athleticism, his passes are crisp and generous and timely.
"I've had time to figure it out," Webber explained. "I've watched a million tapes. I've been watching a lot of tape of Magic (Johnson) because I don't think he was the best athlete, maybe not even close to being a great athlete, but just the things that he saw ... I want to be the most complete player in the game, and I want to win."
Admittedly, he will never win a sprint, and though his mobility is much improved, his gait is more lumbering than graceful glide. Particularly in the second game in back-to-back situations, he runs on tiptoes and can appear sluggish, and he can be victimized away from the basket by the quick, penetrating dribble moves of his opponents.
"I still have trouble on one-legged jumps for dunks and rebounds," Webber conceded.
But though his is necessarily a cautionary tale - the fortunes of Terrell Brandon, Allan Houston, Jamal Mashburn and other NBA players who have undergone the same procedure suggest so - his consistency and subdued dominance have earned him favorable reviews around the league. And around town. A polarizing figure in Sacramento throughout his six-plus seasons, both because of his off-court legal problems, and more recently his offseason criticism of unnamed teammates (Vlade Divac foremost among them), Webber is receiving louder, more sustained applause. His perseverance and unselfishness are earning him grudging respect, if not outright affection, as are his overt attempts to soothe Stojakovic's bruised feelings and kick-start the small forward's offense.
"Me and Peja have had some very candid conversations," Webber said. "I told him the grass isn't always greener elsewhere. I was traded from Golden State to a team in Washington that won 13 games. I told him, 'I want us to be the best forward tandem in the game.' I love the guy. I want to win, so I want to make sure he gets the ball. I've put that pressure on us. And that's not going to change."
Don't expect any apologies, either. Webber, 31, says he will continue to speak out when he believes a verbal spanking is warranted. His current peeve, for instance, is the team's apparent aversion to rebounding.
But when you lead on the court, you earn the podium in the locker room. While this was not the situation late last season, when an ailing Webber's forceful presence proved more disruptive than beneficial, it certainly is now. The game has changed. Apparently, so has he.
Ailene Voisin: Webber's new playing style brings rewards
By Ailene Voisin -- Bee Sports Columnist
Published 2:15 am PST Monday, December 6, 2004
The game has changed. No doubt about it. Instead of careening wildly into the third and perhaps final phase of his NBA career, Chris Webber is quietly and effectively testing his left knee, pressing his cause with a measured efficiency that is far more influential than any collection of bold pronouncements or acrobatic dunks.
This is below-the-rim brilliance.
This is new.
Though the cluster of scoring, passing and rebounding statistics is familiar, gone is the young athletic power forward who cradled lob passes in those massive hands of his, then routinely scored with astonishing, explosive ease. Gone, too, is the hobbled veteran who late last season performed on wounded knee, and who not unlike many ailing elite players stubbornly refused to accept a lesser role that would have benefited the team.
But this season he has it right. He has his game. He has the goods. Webber, who underwent the delicate microfracture procedure on his left knee in June 2003, is sharing and succeeding and soaring, with both feet firmly on the ground. After an offseason of additional rehabilitation, followed by early-season struggles and a scare prompted by occasional swelling in the knee, the 12th-year pro is performing at an All-Star level, and most impressively displaying an unselfishness and offensive balance that is essential to the Kings' success.
Without saying a word, with his performance serving as his microphone, he has become master of the house.
The Kings are his team. Again.
"Chris is doing what great players do," assistant coach Pete Carril observed. "He is passing the ball when he should and shooting the ball when he should, and that is one of the toughest things to learn. I don't know whether he experienced (an epiphany) early in the season or what. It could be that he's at peace with himself, or that he realizes the more you pass, the more you score. But I have definitely noticed a difference."
Who hasn't noticed the less-than-subtle shift in style? At some point these past several weeks, Webber eased into the role of facilitator, and not coincidentally elevated both his individual performance and that of his team; he is all about effectiveness now, his stats perhaps more meaningful than ever.
As the Kings distance themselves from their horrific start, he actively searches for cutters, strains to keep teammates involved and seems particularly intent on providing open looks for Peja Stojakovic, the league's second-leading scorer a year ago. Webber's tendency to monopolize the ball at the high post has been replaced by patience and prudence and a self-imposed discipline. His 19-footers are in rhythm, his rebounds in bunches, his lethal jump hooks plentiful. And in a half-court offense that is more methodical than in the recent past, in part because of his diminished athleticism, his passes are crisp and generous and timely.
"I've had time to figure it out," Webber explained. "I've watched a million tapes. I've been watching a lot of tape of Magic (Johnson) because I don't think he was the best athlete, maybe not even close to being a great athlete, but just the things that he saw ... I want to be the most complete player in the game, and I want to win."
Admittedly, he will never win a sprint, and though his mobility is much improved, his gait is more lumbering than graceful glide. Particularly in the second game in back-to-back situations, he runs on tiptoes and can appear sluggish, and he can be victimized away from the basket by the quick, penetrating dribble moves of his opponents.
"I still have trouble on one-legged jumps for dunks and rebounds," Webber conceded.
But though his is necessarily a cautionary tale - the fortunes of Terrell Brandon, Allan Houston, Jamal Mashburn and other NBA players who have undergone the same procedure suggest so - his consistency and subdued dominance have earned him favorable reviews around the league. And around town. A polarizing figure in Sacramento throughout his six-plus seasons, both because of his off-court legal problems, and more recently his offseason criticism of unnamed teammates (Vlade Divac foremost among them), Webber is receiving louder, more sustained applause. His perseverance and unselfishness are earning him grudging respect, if not outright affection, as are his overt attempts to soothe Stojakovic's bruised feelings and kick-start the small forward's offense.
"Me and Peja have had some very candid conversations," Webber said. "I told him the grass isn't always greener elsewhere. I was traded from Golden State to a team in Washington that won 13 games. I told him, 'I want us to be the best forward tandem in the game.' I love the guy. I want to win, so I want to make sure he gets the ball. I've put that pressure on us. And that's not going to change."
Don't expect any apologies, either. Webber, 31, says he will continue to speak out when he believes a verbal spanking is warranted. His current peeve, for instance, is the team's apparent aversion to rebounding.
But when you lead on the court, you earn the podium in the locker room. While this was not the situation late last season, when an ailing Webber's forceful presence proved more disruptive than beneficial, it certainly is now. The game has changed. Apparently, so has he.
