http://www.sacbee.com/351/story/130956.html
Poor rebounding a hot topic among Kings
By Sam Amick - Bee Staff Writer
Last Updated 7:21 am PST Thursday, March 1, 2007
Words aside, Kings forward Shareef Abdur-Rahim was saying, facts don't lie.
With a rebounding differential of negative 3.8, the Kings are 27th out of 30 teams in the league, having been outrebounded in 26 of 30 games entering Wednesday's game against Charlotte. And it didn't take coach Eric Musselman's much talked-about postgame session in Philadelphia to bring that to light.
"You can't really blame that on anything," Abdur-Rahim said. "I mean, it's what, (26 out of 30) games? I mean we're not happy about that, and the coaches can't be happy about that."
After so much discussion over whether Musselman was being sarcastic with his remarks, he made an unscheduled appearance on KHTK (1140 AM) on Tuesday, insisting then and a day later that he was being sincere. His comments concerned the Kings' lack of rebounding and possible fatigue from playing their fourth game in five nights, with Musselman saying he took the blame for both.
"As a leader, you take responsibility for your troops, your team, or whatever -- that's just what you do," Musselman said. "I wasn't being sarcastic at all.
"I understand the lay of the land, and the lay of the land is it falls on the head coach."
Musselman has taken his share of public hits lately, including a quote from Kings co-owner Joe Maloof in Sunday's New York Times in which he called his coach "inexperienced." Maloof declined comment on the matter, but team spokesman Troy Hanson said, "The Maloofs are the biggest Kings fans, and they're frustrated with the season."
As for the rebounding, it's a work in progress that's clearly not working.
"I don't know if it's fixable," forward Corliss Williamson said. "A lot of times, we're going undersized. And there are a lot of times where our bigs, including myself, only have like one or two rebounds.
"Not to make an excuse, but there's 30 teams in the NBA, and where are we ranked, last? Some teams are better at rebounding, and some aren't."
The fatigue, Musselman said, could be handled with more conditioning.
"The team's got to be in great condition," he said. "Pat Riley's teams, when their guys played four games in five nights, they don't want to use that as an excuse. He drives his teams where they have 3 1/2-hour practices and they are in great shape."
About the writer: The Bee's Sam Amick can be reached at samick@sacbee.com.
Poor rebounding a hot topic among Kings
By Sam Amick - Bee Staff Writer
Last Updated 7:21 am PST Thursday, March 1, 2007
Words aside, Kings forward Shareef Abdur-Rahim was saying, facts don't lie.
With a rebounding differential of negative 3.8, the Kings are 27th out of 30 teams in the league, having been outrebounded in 26 of 30 games entering Wednesday's game against Charlotte. And it didn't take coach Eric Musselman's much talked-about postgame session in Philadelphia to bring that to light.
"You can't really blame that on anything," Abdur-Rahim said. "I mean, it's what, (26 out of 30) games? I mean we're not happy about that, and the coaches can't be happy about that."
After so much discussion over whether Musselman was being sarcastic with his remarks, he made an unscheduled appearance on KHTK (1140 AM) on Tuesday, insisting then and a day later that he was being sincere. His comments concerned the Kings' lack of rebounding and possible fatigue from playing their fourth game in five nights, with Musselman saying he took the blame for both.
"As a leader, you take responsibility for your troops, your team, or whatever -- that's just what you do," Musselman said. "I wasn't being sarcastic at all.
"I understand the lay of the land, and the lay of the land is it falls on the head coach."
Musselman has taken his share of public hits lately, including a quote from Kings co-owner Joe Maloof in Sunday's New York Times in which he called his coach "inexperienced." Maloof declined comment on the matter, but team spokesman Troy Hanson said, "The Maloofs are the biggest Kings fans, and they're frustrated with the season."
As for the rebounding, it's a work in progress that's clearly not working.
"I don't know if it's fixable," forward Corliss Williamson said. "A lot of times, we're going undersized. And there are a lot of times where our bigs, including myself, only have like one or two rebounds.
"Not to make an excuse, but there's 30 teams in the NBA, and where are we ranked, last? Some teams are better at rebounding, and some aren't."
The fatigue, Musselman said, could be handled with more conditioning.
"The team's got to be in great condition," he said. "Pat Riley's teams, when their guys played four games in five nights, they don't want to use that as an excuse. He drives his teams where they have 3 1/2-hour practices and they are in great shape."
About the writer: The Bee's Sam Amick can be reached at samick@sacbee.com.
