http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/story/14278738p-15087549c.html
He works toward filling the role of backup point guard.
By Sam Amick
Published 12:01 am PDT, Sunday, July 16, 2006
There's no point in worrying.
That's how Ronnie Price looks at it.
There's no point guard competition here, he says, because these are his teammates. There's no reason to wonder if he'll be pointing the Kings down the floor come the regular season, because these next three months would be better spent working on his game.
So Price -- that jovial, hand-slapping, fist-pumping presence seen at the end of the Kings' bench so often last season -- controls what he can. By playing his part in Project Point.
"All you can do is do what you can," said Price, the second-year point guard from Utah Valley State. "There are a ton of things that I've learned, like patience -- offensively. That's a big thing. Decision-making, for me, is key. That's what things like practices, summer leagues, preseason games can do. That's when young guys get to work on things and focus on your weaknesses. Get your noticeable weaknesses to where they're strong."
Second only to winning, turning weaknesses into strengths was Price's goal entering this month's Las Vegas summer league. Price, who so impressed the Kings last year that he earned a roster spot despite playing in just two summer-league games because of injury, wanted to learn the point-guard spot. As simple as it sounds for someone who was a point guard in college, it is anything but.
At Utah Valley State, Price -- much like Kings shooting guard Kevin Martin and rookie draft pick Quincy Douby at their respective colleges -- was a virtual one-man team. He was asked to score, but not to distribute. He was asked to lead, but few could keep up. He was the starter and the finisher, a formula not so conducive becoming an NBA point guard.
Wednesday, Price left Las Vegas and headed for his hometown of Houston with pride in the Kings' 4-1 record. But with the quandary of finding a suitable backup for point guard Mike Bibby still undecided, any surprise seizing of the position did not occur.
"We're still working on trying to make him a point guard," said Wayne Cooper, the Kings' vice president of basketball operations. "That's something he's got to continue to do. I see some improvement. You can't judge everything by one summer league."
Price, an athletic scorer who is hailed by veterans as one of the team's best defenders, said he's still learning the point process.
"(Playing point) is something I can do and that I'm OK at, but it's something that, as a professional, I want to get better at and continue to grow in that position," said Price, who averaged 15.2 points, 2.4 assists and three turnovers in five summer-league games.
While Price's finale was, as coach Eric Musselman said, "absolutely perfect," (31 points in the Kings' victory over Dallas), he spent much of the summer league sharing the point-guard spot with Douby, only adding to the competition at a spot also coveted by the incumbent, 28-year-old Jason Hart.
Despite Douby's repute as the sweet-shooting scoring guard from Rutgers, Musselman said the plan is to turn him into a sweet-shooting, scoring point guard.
"I think if you have a point guard who can score, it makes your job as a coach a lot easier," Musselman said before summer league. "Mike Bibby's a scoring point. If Quincy can score, it'll help us. That's an added bonus."
After Douby averaged 13.3 points, three assists and 1.3 turnovers in four summer-league games, Musselman said he scored points in all sorts of ways.
"Quincy did really well," he said. "He shot the ball well, which we knew he was going to do. Probably the most important thing is we saw that he had great court vision. And he defended much better than we anticipated."
Said Cooper: "(Douby) has shown that he can do more than shoot the ball. He's a well-rounded player."
As Musselman has noted, his system does not demand a true point guard at all times, meaning last season's system of small forward Ron Artest and swingman Francisco García bringing the ball up might be repeated. Price, though, would rather make his point.
"I know what I have to work on to be successful in this league," Price said. "I want to be all the way in control, as far as my game. I want to be able to run a team. And I want to be able to run a team and win. You only learn by playing."
He works toward filling the role of backup point guard.
By Sam Amick
Published 12:01 am PDT, Sunday, July 16, 2006
There's no point in worrying.
That's how Ronnie Price looks at it.
There's no point guard competition here, he says, because these are his teammates. There's no reason to wonder if he'll be pointing the Kings down the floor come the regular season, because these next three months would be better spent working on his game.
So Price -- that jovial, hand-slapping, fist-pumping presence seen at the end of the Kings' bench so often last season -- controls what he can. By playing his part in Project Point.
"All you can do is do what you can," said Price, the second-year point guard from Utah Valley State. "There are a ton of things that I've learned, like patience -- offensively. That's a big thing. Decision-making, for me, is key. That's what things like practices, summer leagues, preseason games can do. That's when young guys get to work on things and focus on your weaknesses. Get your noticeable weaknesses to where they're strong."
Second only to winning, turning weaknesses into strengths was Price's goal entering this month's Las Vegas summer league. Price, who so impressed the Kings last year that he earned a roster spot despite playing in just two summer-league games because of injury, wanted to learn the point-guard spot. As simple as it sounds for someone who was a point guard in college, it is anything but.
At Utah Valley State, Price -- much like Kings shooting guard Kevin Martin and rookie draft pick Quincy Douby at their respective colleges -- was a virtual one-man team. He was asked to score, but not to distribute. He was asked to lead, but few could keep up. He was the starter and the finisher, a formula not so conducive becoming an NBA point guard.
Wednesday, Price left Las Vegas and headed for his hometown of Houston with pride in the Kings' 4-1 record. But with the quandary of finding a suitable backup for point guard Mike Bibby still undecided, any surprise seizing of the position did not occur.
"We're still working on trying to make him a point guard," said Wayne Cooper, the Kings' vice president of basketball operations. "That's something he's got to continue to do. I see some improvement. You can't judge everything by one summer league."
Price, an athletic scorer who is hailed by veterans as one of the team's best defenders, said he's still learning the point process.
"(Playing point) is something I can do and that I'm OK at, but it's something that, as a professional, I want to get better at and continue to grow in that position," said Price, who averaged 15.2 points, 2.4 assists and three turnovers in five summer-league games.
While Price's finale was, as coach Eric Musselman said, "absolutely perfect," (31 points in the Kings' victory over Dallas), he spent much of the summer league sharing the point-guard spot with Douby, only adding to the competition at a spot also coveted by the incumbent, 28-year-old Jason Hart.
Despite Douby's repute as the sweet-shooting scoring guard from Rutgers, Musselman said the plan is to turn him into a sweet-shooting, scoring point guard.
"I think if you have a point guard who can score, it makes your job as a coach a lot easier," Musselman said before summer league. "Mike Bibby's a scoring point. If Quincy can score, it'll help us. That's an added bonus."
After Douby averaged 13.3 points, three assists and 1.3 turnovers in four summer-league games, Musselman said he scored points in all sorts of ways.
"Quincy did really well," he said. "He shot the ball well, which we knew he was going to do. Probably the most important thing is we saw that he had great court vision. And he defended much better than we anticipated."
Said Cooper: "(Douby) has shown that he can do more than shoot the ball. He's a well-rounded player."
As Musselman has noted, his system does not demand a true point guard at all times, meaning last season's system of small forward Ron Artest and swingman Francisco García bringing the ball up might be repeated. Price, though, would rather make his point.
"I know what I have to work on to be successful in this league," Price said. "I want to be all the way in control, as far as my game. I want to be able to run a team. And I want to be able to run a team and win. You only learn by playing."
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Price was trying new things with a bunch of guys he'd never played with before. That's going to lead to turnovers. 
