Artest in Game 3:

[Wheeler03]

I really hope Ron Artest took copious notes during his undeserved suspension. If he comes back and focuses on playing typical lock-down Artest defense, then the Kings have a better than average shot at taking game 3. What we do not need is for him to have a repeat performance of game 1. Ron pretty much offsets all of the advantages his defense brings when he imitates Kobe and takes 21 ill-advised jumpshots. He is simply not quick enough to create separation on the perimeter and thus is not effective playing the point. He belongs in the paint banging away with the big boys. Who would have thought the Kings could so thoroughly dominate the paint in Game 2. That is the key to the series. We can claw our way back into the series, but that assumes that we do not revert back to a jump shooting team. Bibby will not get good looks against Bowen and as we have established, relying on Artest from the outside is not a recipe for success. We must move the ball on offense and play inside out. This resulted in easy looks for Martin in game 3 and will lead to good things the rest of the series. Keep feeding Reef, Bonzi and Artest in the paint.

In summation, just say NO to the jumpshot. You simply do not win in the post season playing perimeter offense. And more to the point, the Kings do not have the weapons to play that style of game. Feed Reef and Bonzi possession after possession and let the cards fall where they may. GOOOOO KKIIIIINNNNNGGGGGSSSS>

 

[Kev.in]

Ron plays much different at home, just like most of his teammates. I'm not too concerned about him. The guy I'm concerned about is Mike Bibby. He's not capable of locking anyone down and his jumpshot has gone AWOL. We've proven that we can win with Ron having a low scoring or bad shooting night, because he does other things to help you win. If Bibby doesn't start scoring the ball big time, this'll be a sweep.

 

[Wheeler03]

I agree to a degree. The problem I have is that Bibby usually shot lights out and carried our offense those nights in which Artest forced shot after shot. And with Bowen guarding Bibby, I do not see him getting enough quality looks to have an offensive explosion. Artest brings so much to the game; however, he does not care about taking bad shots. He even said as much during an interview in which he said "you have to live with my bad shots, much like you do with Kobe and LeBron." IMO, forced shots are never acceptable. Especially now that it is the playoffs. Each possession is pivital. We scored 111 points last game because we got several players established. There was good ball movement and thus easy shots in the paint. Ron is a great offensive player; however, him shooting ill-advised jumpers plays right into San Antonios hands. Do not do this. Move the ball, post up and lets have four players taking 15 shots. This will make the Spurs play defense and keep most of our players involved in the offense.

 

[JJ22L]

Ron plays much different at home, just like most of his teammates. I'm not too concerned about him. The guy I'm concerned about is Mike Bibby. He's not capable of locking anyone down and his jumpshot has gone AWOL. We've proven that we can win with Ron having a low scoring or bad shooting night, because he does other things to help you win. If Bibby doesn't start scoring the ball big time, this'll be a sweep.

hate to say it- but i agree...if bibby dosent step up- we are done...

you all saw it last night- martin played above himself, bonzi played like a madman- reef played like a mad man- and we came out with a L

forget miller- im done with him- he has dissapointed me more times then not...the spurs will get into the lane and destroy him no matter what.

We need bibby to step up- it has to be his show or we are done (im not saying well win the series, but if he keeps playing like a rookie we will be swept)- he torched the spurs in the regular season- and to be honest...im not sure WTF his deal is right now- but he isnt playing like the kings franchise player many wish to label him as. He plays bad one game- fine, it happens...two games...ok hes nervous...if he does it again...im going to start calling for heads to roll....

 

[quick dog]

I am not real worried about Mike Bibby. He did not play well in San Antonio, but he is tough. I am thrilled about Rahim and Martin. Bonzi is a proven warrior. If we lose, we lose. I think the Kings are one big trade from having a winning team in 2006-2007.

 

[kennadog]

Well.......the Spurs did win with perimeter offense last night. Even tho we dominated the paint. You can't win with either type of offense alone, a team needs balance and the best teams have it.

 

[kennadog]

I am not real worried about Mike Bibby. He did not play well in San Antonio, but he is tough. I am thrilled about Rahim and Martin. Bonzi is a proven warrior. If we lose, we lose. I think the Kings are one big trade from having a winning team in 2006-2007.

That's what I'm please about. After how I felt a few months ago, I see a team that is not far off from being a contender again.

 

[quick dog]

It would be fun to have owners that would be willing to pay the likes of Michael Finley, Brent Barry, Nick Van Exel, Rasho Nesterovic, and Robert Horry to sit on the bench.

How can you lose with a bench like that, as well as Duncan, Ginobili, Parker, and Bowen as starters? Seems a little like the New York Yankee philosophy going on down there in Texas. I wonder if San Antonio will pick up Kevin Garnett this summer?

 

[Larry89]

It would be fun to have owners that would be willing to pay the likes of Michael Finley, Brent Barry, Nick Van Exel, Rasho Nesterovic, and Robert Horry to sit on the bench.

How can you lose with a bench like that, as well as Duncan, Ginobili, Parker, and Bowen as starters? Seems a little like the New York Yankee philosophy going on down there in Texas. I wonder if San Antonio will pick up Kevin Garnett this summer?

yep and Duncan will be switch to center and garnett at pf

 

[kennadog]

Actually, there's only about a $5 million difference in team salaries between us and the Spurs. We're just still trying to recover from having one of the highest team salaries in 02-03. Spurs have stayed realtively constant in team salary. Proving that you don't need to spend a ton of money to create a dynasty. I think that's what the Maloofs figured out.

Of course, Dallas has a ridiculously high team salary, so if Dallas goes all the way, Cuban may prove its possible to buy a championship. And that doesn't even count the money he spends on their 2,495 assistant coaches.

 

[Warhawk]

Actually, there's only about a $5 million difference in team salaries between us and the Spurs. We're just still trying to recover from having one of the highest team salaries in 02-03. Spurs have stayed realtively constant in team salary. Proving that you don't need to spend a ton of money to create a dynasty. I think that's what the Maloofs figured out.

It's the same way we got SAR. Those guys all wanted to go to a winner and signed cheap to do so.

 

[AriesMar27]

but finley and van exel were waived by their teams... arent they being paid minimum contracts?

 

[kings93]

i hope artest comes out in game 3 with a bang and shows the spurs whose boss.

 

[VF21]

I have to admit to wanting Artest to focus more on defense. I liked what I saw with Bonzi, Kevin and SAR last night. It seems pretty clear that Shareef is able to get to Duncan.

Adelman is now in the position he was in before with Webber. I loved Chris but his tendency to try and put the team on his back and take ill-advised jumpshots sometimes drove me nuts.

This should be an interesting game back for Ron. I sincerely hope he doesn't come out with the attitude that he has something to prove. If he can play good, hard defense and contribute through good ball handling and waiting for the open man, then we have a good chance IMHO of at least getting game 3. I can't look any further than that...

 

[Rome]

I have to admit to wanting Artest to focus more on defense. I liked what I saw with Bonzi, Kevin and SAR last night. It seems pretty clear that Shareef is able to get to Duncan.

Adelman is now in the position he was in before with Webber. I loved Chris but his tendency to try and put the team on his back and take ill-advised jumpshots sometimes drove me nuts.

This should be an interesting game back for Ron. I sincerely hope he doesn't come out with the attitude that he has something to prove. If he can play good, hard defense and contribute through good ball handling and waiting for the open man, then we have a good chance IMHO of at least getting game 3. I can't look any further than that...

Finally lol. It took a while for you to say that because he's been doing this in every game we played against the Spurs.

 

[VF21]

Oh good lord.

No, I've said it before - I was reiterating it because it's pretty apparent it's not a fluke.

 

[Bricklayer]

We have to be a little careful about fools gold with the Bonzi/Kevin/Reef trio. They all stepped it up bigtime. But if Ron retired towmmorow there is no way ANY of those guys would be that good, or very close to it every night.

Guys stepped up. But its not who/what they are on a nightly basis.

 

[VF21]

...

...

...

thump.

















That was the sound of us falling back to earth.

 

[kennadog]

^^*OUCH* I hate when that happens.

 

[Rome]

We have to be a little careful about fools gold with the Bonzi/Kevin/Reef trio. They all stepped it up bigtime. But if Ron retired towmmorow there is no way ANY of those guys would be that good, or very close to it every night.

Guys stepped up. But its not who/what they are on a nightly basis.

Oh come on, your ruining it for us... Brad and Bibby have been pee poor so far and Bonzi/Martin/Reef have been playing there heart out with desire to win. I'm putting my money on these guys before I ever start discussing Brad. Bibby will step out of it but Brad is the one who scares me the most.

 

[GoGoGadget]

That was the sound of us falling back to earth.

You poor mortals.

I'm so glad I don't have to worry about that feeling.

 

[Bricklayer]

Oh come on, your ruining it for us... Brad and Bibby have been pee poor so far and Bonzi/Martin/Reef have been playing there heart out with desire to win. I'm putting my money on these guys before I ever start discussing Brad. Bibby will step out of it but Brad is the one who scares me the most.

If you're putting your money on guys repeatedly being twice as good as they are rather than on a guy just coming back and giving you a game where he's as good as he normally is...you're going to spend your life very poor. One or more of the "trio" will likely play well on Friday. It would be a minor miracle if ANY of them played AS well. Brad...we'll have tos ee. But he doesn't have to play over his hea to help us. Just give us a normal Brad Miller game. He's way too passive, but how he responds will depend on how much pride he has, not passivity. Even a passive player will get embarrassed eventually and respond.

 

[SacKings4Life21]

We have to be a little careful about fools gold with the Bonzi/Kevin/Reef trio. They all stepped it up bigtime. But if Ron retired towmmorow there is no way ANY of those guys would be that good, or very close to it every night.

Guys stepped up. But its not who/what they are on a nightly basis.

I really think that Reef's normal self is pretty close to what he was last night... he was been limited minutes do to kenny t, but reef has been an allstar in this league... a carer 20 point scorer... given it was on bad teams but still... I want to see reef starting... but of course Rick wouldnt do that...

 

[SpursIndonesia]

KMartin offensive production might be a one night magic, but i believe Bonzi Wells and Shareef Abdurrahim -if well motivated- are truly capable of hurting the Spurs more. A physical, relentless, and willing to bang inside Bonzi is a tough matchup for the Spurs, while Abdurrahim's agility in offense gives TD problems with his PF issue.
................................
One thing for sure, to produce offensively, there must be some concentrated effort by their teammates to get these guys shooting opportunities. And my honest opinion, Bibby would be smart enough to know that, while i can't say the same about Artest.

 

[tyrant]

I have to admit to wanting Artest to focus more on defense. I liked what I saw with Bonzi, Kevin and SAR last night. It seems pretty clear that Shareef is able to get to Duncan.

This should be an interesting game back for Ron. I sincerely hope he doesn't come out with the attitude that he has something to prove. If he can play good, hard defense and contribute through good ball handling and waiting for the open man, then we have a good chance IMHO of at least getting game 3. I can't look any further than that...

i agree here.

 

[Bricklayer]

I really think that Reef's normal self is pretty close to what he was last night... he was been limited minutes do to kenny t, but reef has been an allstar in this league... a carer 20 point scorer... given it was on bad teams but still... I want to see reef starting... but of course Rick wouldnt do that...

It was Kevin's highest scoring game of the season, and Bonzi and Reef's second-higest scoring game of the season.

You love that they stepped up, but hoping to get anything close out of those three guys this next game may be wishful thinking. Fortunately we have the potential to get the entire normal core of the team back if Ron, Brad and Mike show up. So may not need season best games and all of that from the other guys.

 

[vladetomiller]

kings in 7

 

[Wheeler03]

It was Kevin's highest scoring game of the season, and Bonzi and Reef's second-higest scoring game of the season.

I may grant that it was a bit of a fluke for Bonzi and Martin. They are both capable scorers, but they put it on another level last night. A lot of Bonzi's looks were great looks, but the shots were pretty circus and probably don't roll the same way 3 out of 10 times.

Reef though - he'll give you a pretty good showing every time he gets 15-18 shots. It's not a "fluke" that he scored more when he was forefront in the offense more.

The only "fluke" was that the team and Adelman felt it was okay to go into Reef in the post.

 

[Wheeler03]

Well.......the Spurs did win with perimeter offense last night. Even tho we dominated the paint. You can't win with either type of offense alone, a team needs balance and the best teams have it.

No they didn't.

They won on penetration and kickouts. They won because none of our perimeter players felt the need to keep their man in front of them.

When we play perimeter offense, we play a very solo type game. We run iso or run Bibby/Artest/whomever through 10 picks to get them a look. If the look isn't there, there isn't much time to find a better shot.

When the Spurs beat us last night - they won out of ball movement. Parker/Manu drove the lane and kicked out to open players.

Our weakness of Bibby on the perimeter, matched with the overwhelmingly soft play of Brad Miller is a terrible combo. I was more impressed with a completely undersized Kenny Thomas (PF) and Shareef (C) playing defense at the same time than anyone playing alongside Brad Miller. It was no suprise that we came back when our two defensive liabilities took the bench.

 

[VF21]

I may grant that it was a bit of a fluke for Bonzi and Martin. They are both capable scorers, but they put it on another level last night. A lot of Bonzi's looks were great looks, but the shots were pretty circus and probably don't roll the same way 3 out of 10 times.

Reef though - he'll give you a pretty good showing every time he gets 15-18 shots. It's not a "fluke" that he scored more when he was forefront in the offense more.

The only "fluke" was that the team and Adelman felt it was okay to go into Reef in the post.

A fluke for Martin? Au contraire. He's been getting better and better all year. This career high wasn't a big leap; it was just another step up the ladder for this young man who is at the beginning of his career.

Why not give ALL THREE players credit for what they did? I'm quite sure Shareef is willing to share the spotlight. It's a shame some fans can't let all three of them receive the credit they're due without having to knock two of them down so Reef can be up just a little higher.