http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/basketball/kings/story/14236761p-15057666c.html
It's all roses for the Kings
They defeat Portland easily at the Rose Garden; Rick Adelman exhales.
By Sam Amick -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PST Thursday, March 30, 2006
PORTLAND, Ore. - Anyone with even one eye on the Kings in the last two weeks would have laughed at the question.
Long after the Kings disposed of the Portland Trail Blazers 106-90 at the Rose Garden on Wednesday night, a television reporter asked the winning team's coach if he was having fun.
Rick Adelman grinned.
"I am tonight," he said.
Fun because after his team's stretch of five losses in seven games, Mr. Offense - that being Adelman - spent the evening clapping as his squad remembered the vital role that scoring had played in the winning stretch that put it in the playoff race. For all the chatter about Ron Artest reenergizing the Kings' defense as they won 14 of 18 games, they had scored 100-plus points in 12 of those wins, then proceeded get there just once in the seven games that followed and came with no fun at all.
Fun because this 51.3 percent shooting effort was the first 50-plus outing since March 14, and because one of Adelman's favorite shooters - Brad Miller - actually shot the way everyone knows he can, hitting 8 of 15 shots to lead the team in scoring (24 points) for just the second time in 14 games. Fun because Miller stopped his trend of allowing B-grade centers to post big nights, too, as Joel Przybilla scored just five points.
Fun because even though this was the league's third-worst squad, Adelman's team was playing its fourth game in five nights. And it was on the road, no less, meaning the Kings just might struggle against a Development League team (no, the Blazers don't count).
Fun because maybe, Adelman said, his pregame talk about recapturing all that was right before things went wrong may have sparked something that could help his team avoid falling out of the eighth spot in the Western Conference.
"We had a good discussion today about what happened in those ... games about three weeks ago, and what we were doing (compared) to what we were doing the last seven games," Adelman said. "A lot of it was just energy, and our energy level was up tonight. We were making the hustle plays, and that's what we're going to have to do. You can't go out there and wait to get in the game. You have to get in there from the start."
They got in there with a 9-0 run midway through the first quarter that put the Kings up 16-10. They got back in there a little more than three minutes later, finishing the first quarter on a 10-0 run to go up 29-20. As first-half box scores go, this was the stuff of Adelman's dreams, as the Kings had 21 assists and one turnover to lead 58-41. They finished with a season-high-tying 33 assists and season-low-tying six turnovers, capped by a season-high-tying 12 three-pointers on 18 attempts - 4 of 5 from Mike Bibby (19 points) and 3 of 3 from Artest (11 points) as the Blazers never were closer than 11 points after halftime.
But they may not have been there if not for Shareef Abdur-Rahim, who posted 21 points on 8-of-11 shooting against the team he left for free agency and, eventually, Sacramento in the offseason. Abdur-Rahim, whom assistant coach Pete Carril jokingly called "Mr. Outside" for his jump-shooting prowess, did it from inside and out. His facial dunk over Przybilla in the second quarter put the Kings up 13, and his 19-and 21-footers late in the third quarter pushed the Kings toward an 82-65 margin entering the fourth.
"We took care of the ball and shared the ball, and we play our best when we're sharing the ball," Abdur-Rahim said. "When we get bogged down and play one-on-one and not play with each other and not help each other, we don't play our best basketball."
Or have their most fun.
About the writer: The Bee's Sam Amick can be reached at (916) 326-5582 or samick@sacbee.com.
It's all roses for the Kings
They defeat Portland easily at the Rose Garden; Rick Adelman exhales.
By Sam Amick -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PST Thursday, March 30, 2006
PORTLAND, Ore. - Anyone with even one eye on the Kings in the last two weeks would have laughed at the question.
Long after the Kings disposed of the Portland Trail Blazers 106-90 at the Rose Garden on Wednesday night, a television reporter asked the winning team's coach if he was having fun.
Rick Adelman grinned.
"I am tonight," he said.
Fun because after his team's stretch of five losses in seven games, Mr. Offense - that being Adelman - spent the evening clapping as his squad remembered the vital role that scoring had played in the winning stretch that put it in the playoff race. For all the chatter about Ron Artest reenergizing the Kings' defense as they won 14 of 18 games, they had scored 100-plus points in 12 of those wins, then proceeded get there just once in the seven games that followed and came with no fun at all.
Fun because this 51.3 percent shooting effort was the first 50-plus outing since March 14, and because one of Adelman's favorite shooters - Brad Miller - actually shot the way everyone knows he can, hitting 8 of 15 shots to lead the team in scoring (24 points) for just the second time in 14 games. Fun because Miller stopped his trend of allowing B-grade centers to post big nights, too, as Joel Przybilla scored just five points.
Fun because even though this was the league's third-worst squad, Adelman's team was playing its fourth game in five nights. And it was on the road, no less, meaning the Kings just might struggle against a Development League team (no, the Blazers don't count).
Fun because maybe, Adelman said, his pregame talk about recapturing all that was right before things went wrong may have sparked something that could help his team avoid falling out of the eighth spot in the Western Conference.
"We had a good discussion today about what happened in those ... games about three weeks ago, and what we were doing (compared) to what we were doing the last seven games," Adelman said. "A lot of it was just energy, and our energy level was up tonight. We were making the hustle plays, and that's what we're going to have to do. You can't go out there and wait to get in the game. You have to get in there from the start."
They got in there with a 9-0 run midway through the first quarter that put the Kings up 16-10. They got back in there a little more than three minutes later, finishing the first quarter on a 10-0 run to go up 29-20. As first-half box scores go, this was the stuff of Adelman's dreams, as the Kings had 21 assists and one turnover to lead 58-41. They finished with a season-high-tying 33 assists and season-low-tying six turnovers, capped by a season-high-tying 12 three-pointers on 18 attempts - 4 of 5 from Mike Bibby (19 points) and 3 of 3 from Artest (11 points) as the Blazers never were closer than 11 points after halftime.
But they may not have been there if not for Shareef Abdur-Rahim, who posted 21 points on 8-of-11 shooting against the team he left for free agency and, eventually, Sacramento in the offseason. Abdur-Rahim, whom assistant coach Pete Carril jokingly called "Mr. Outside" for his jump-shooting prowess, did it from inside and out. His facial dunk over Przybilla in the second quarter put the Kings up 13, and his 19-and 21-footers late in the third quarter pushed the Kings toward an 82-65 margin entering the fourth.
"We took care of the ball and shared the ball, and we play our best when we're sharing the ball," Abdur-Rahim said. "When we get bogged down and play one-on-one and not play with each other and not help each other, we don't play our best basketball."
Or have their most fun.
About the writer: The Bee's Sam Amick can be reached at (916) 326-5582 or samick@sacbee.com.
