Artest calls for ball
The Kings forward is unhappy after getting too few touches, in his view.
By Sam Amick - Bee Staff Writer
Last Updated 1:19 am PST Saturday, December 2, 2006
Story appeared in SPORTS section, Page C1
That first step? It was a doozy -- a dizzying, dominating, defenseless doozy in the Big D.
The Kings didn't have enough "D" of any kind on Friday night at American Airlines Center, where the first leg of this Texas two-step was, well, a broken one.
But it wasn't until long after the Dallas Mavericks disposed of the Kings 109-90 that the most damaging "D" of all came to the lips of its franchise player.
Discontent.
Kings small forward Ron Artest said the game was a sign that things need to change, namely his role in an offense that has plenty of capable scorers but sometimes struggles to identify the option he sees as the best one available. Himself. Specifically, Artest said he didn't have any offensive plays called for him beyond the first quarter.
"Not to have no plays for the whole second quarter, for the whole second half, that doesn't make me happy at all," said Artest, who scored 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting. "Not from a selfish standpoint. There's got to be a way. We've got to find ways to get me the ball.
"I know that's kind of selfish, but something has to happen. The organization needs to find out which way it wants to go, you know what I'm saying."
Asked what he meant by "which way it wants to go," Artest said the coaching staff and management aren't in sync.
"I think coach understands what I can do, you know," he said. "It just has to be clear between the organization and coach, at times, what type of players you have. Like in other situations, like (the Lakers), they understand who's the man over there.
"Coach and player understand. In Cleveland ..."
Artest wasn't there at the start, when the Kings came out slugglishly and the Mavericks shot three-pointers as if they were free throws in hitting 7 of 9 from beyond the arc. Artest didn't start the game because of the sore back that continues to bother him, then entered with 6:16 remaining in the first when the Mavericks were already up 21-12.
He wasn't able to stop them either, though, and the Mavericks led 38-19 after the first quarter on the efforts of the long-range game. Dallas small forward Josh Howard -- who ranks third in the league in first-quarter scoring -- had 10 of his game-high 24 points in the opening period. The Kings, meanwhile, didn't help their own cause with six turnovers. From there, it was a replica of the Nov. 16 loss at Golden State, in which they fell behind big early and kept pace in the final three quarters.
It was the second consecutive game in which Dallas scored 38 first-quarter points, and their 62-41 halftime lead was a season high in scoring for a half.
"We knew of their past history in the first quarter, but we couldn't stop them," Kings coach Eric Musselman said.
There was, and not for the first time, some contradiction in Artest's views. Just as he deemed himself the go-to guy, he good-naturedly told a national reporter in the locker room afterward to talk to Martin -- "the All-Star." Yet after hitting 5 of his first 6 shots and scoring 13 points, Martin went to the bench midway through the third quarter with the rest of the starters as Dallas' lead grew to 32 points. None of the Kings' starters played in the fourth quarter.
"I thought our subs played hard, and I knew we had a game tonight (at San Antonio) as well," Musselman said.
Martin, who was frustrated by being benched because of poor play in a victory over the Clippers on Tuesday, said he understood the decision this time.
"We weren't getting it done as a group, so we deserved to be over there," he said.
Artest, however, stayed in despite his sore back. It was the continuation of a trend that has taken place for much of the season -- Artest subbing himself in and out of games.
"I wanted to win," he said. "No matter what the score is, I don't want to give up. We could've come back and won."
The Bee's Sam Amick can be reached at samick@sacbee.com.
http://www.sacbee.com/100/story/86436.html
The Kings forward is unhappy after getting too few touches, in his view.
By Sam Amick - Bee Staff Writer
Last Updated 1:19 am PST Saturday, December 2, 2006
Story appeared in SPORTS section, Page C1
That first step? It was a doozy -- a dizzying, dominating, defenseless doozy in the Big D.
The Kings didn't have enough "D" of any kind on Friday night at American Airlines Center, where the first leg of this Texas two-step was, well, a broken one.
But it wasn't until long after the Dallas Mavericks disposed of the Kings 109-90 that the most damaging "D" of all came to the lips of its franchise player.
Discontent.
Kings small forward Ron Artest said the game was a sign that things need to change, namely his role in an offense that has plenty of capable scorers but sometimes struggles to identify the option he sees as the best one available. Himself. Specifically, Artest said he didn't have any offensive plays called for him beyond the first quarter.
"Not to have no plays for the whole second quarter, for the whole second half, that doesn't make me happy at all," said Artest, who scored 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting. "Not from a selfish standpoint. There's got to be a way. We've got to find ways to get me the ball.
"I know that's kind of selfish, but something has to happen. The organization needs to find out which way it wants to go, you know what I'm saying."
Asked what he meant by "which way it wants to go," Artest said the coaching staff and management aren't in sync.
"I think coach understands what I can do, you know," he said. "It just has to be clear between the organization and coach, at times, what type of players you have. Like in other situations, like (the Lakers), they understand who's the man over there.
"Coach and player understand. In Cleveland ..."
Artest wasn't there at the start, when the Kings came out slugglishly and the Mavericks shot three-pointers as if they were free throws in hitting 7 of 9 from beyond the arc. Artest didn't start the game because of the sore back that continues to bother him, then entered with 6:16 remaining in the first when the Mavericks were already up 21-12.
He wasn't able to stop them either, though, and the Mavericks led 38-19 after the first quarter on the efforts of the long-range game. Dallas small forward Josh Howard -- who ranks third in the league in first-quarter scoring -- had 10 of his game-high 24 points in the opening period. The Kings, meanwhile, didn't help their own cause with six turnovers. From there, it was a replica of the Nov. 16 loss at Golden State, in which they fell behind big early and kept pace in the final three quarters.
It was the second consecutive game in which Dallas scored 38 first-quarter points, and their 62-41 halftime lead was a season high in scoring for a half.
"We knew of their past history in the first quarter, but we couldn't stop them," Kings coach Eric Musselman said.
There was, and not for the first time, some contradiction in Artest's views. Just as he deemed himself the go-to guy, he good-naturedly told a national reporter in the locker room afterward to talk to Martin -- "the All-Star." Yet after hitting 5 of his first 6 shots and scoring 13 points, Martin went to the bench midway through the third quarter with the rest of the starters as Dallas' lead grew to 32 points. None of the Kings' starters played in the fourth quarter.
"I thought our subs played hard, and I knew we had a game tonight (at San Antonio) as well," Musselman said.
Martin, who was frustrated by being benched because of poor play in a victory over the Clippers on Tuesday, said he understood the decision this time.
"We weren't getting it done as a group, so we deserved to be over there," he said.
Artest, however, stayed in despite his sore back. It was the continuation of a trend that has taken place for much of the season -- Artest subbing himself in and out of games.
"I wanted to win," he said. "No matter what the score is, I don't want to give up. We could've come back and won."
The Bee's Sam Amick can be reached at samick@sacbee.com.
http://www.sacbee.com/100/story/86436.html
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