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Bibby gets off to solid start
Coach Rick Adelman is looking for opportunities for Sacramento's hot point guard to score.
By Martin McNeal -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PST Friday, November 19, 2004
Guard Mike Bibby is shooting 47.4 percent from the field and averaging 18.2 points per game while running the offense for the Kings this season.
Kings guard Mike Bibby and coach Rick Adelman now are joined at the hip, whether they like it or not, since it was reported last week they'd had an altercation on an airplane - a claim both deny.
Just like Bibby and former Kings guard Jason Williams have the tether of being the primary pieces in a June 27, 2001, trade between Sacramento and the Vancouver Grizzlies.
Things have changed greatly since then. The Grizzlies now reside in Memphis, and pogo-stick Stromile Swift is the only remaining Grizzly who teamed with Bibby.
So tonight's game at Arco Arena against Memphis is just another one for Bibby, 26, because if you hear him tell it, all of the games are the same.
He doesn't care if people are with him or against him, the approach will be the same. Whether you can believe Bibby when he says, "You know, I don't care what anybody says about me," that remains a question. But in this specific instance, Bibby's words are more believable.
"I'm going at everybody's neck anyway regardless of if anybody is talking bad about me or what is said," said Bibby, who has scored 20 or more points in five of Sacramento's past seven games.
"So I'm going to try and go hard. I just let the pride I take in myself carry me. I hate losing. I hate somebody showing me up."
As an example, he points to a preseason game against Phoenix.
"They were over there laughing at us," Bibby said. "That's the way we're supposed to play. That's the way we've played in the past, and we're out there joking, smiling and having fun and doing whatever we want to do.
"And when somebody does it to us and for us not to respond, then that wasn't us. But we're bouncing back good and I think we're ready to handle all of this stuff now."
Bibby struggled in the first half of the season's first game, but Adelman said his point guard has been very good since. Bibby is averaging 18.3 points per game on 47.4 percent shooting, including 48.5 percent from three-point range.
Bibby makes shots in some of the game's most anxious moments. And as long as Bibby is shooting well, Adelman and his coaching staff will continue to try and find shots for him.
"I think he's been very aggressive in the way he's approached it offensively," Adelman said. "With the way we struggled early, that was very important. But I think we have to keep finding ways, if he keeps playing at this level, to make sure he's going to get his opportunities."
Adelman said the key is to mix up the shots.
"It just can't be the same thing all the time," Adelman said. "We've got to keep adding things for him."
Adelman was asked about Bibby's proficiency for playing the pick-and-roll with both Chris Webber and Brad Miller.
"I think both of those guys are so unique in that they both can make the 16-footer," Adelman said of his big men. "If you throw them the ball, they can make plays. I think the biggest thing that they have to continue to work at, and there is a correlation there, is that they've got to set better picks.
"They've got to take up more room, be sure they get a piece of Mike's guy, and Mike's got to have the patience to let them come get him. Because once they set that screen, it just opens it up the defense."
Adelman says Bibby can run the attack because he sees what is being done and often has an alternative attack.
"Maybe one pick-and-roll isn't going to work, but we can change our angle and do different things and still create the same situation," Adelman said. "I think he's getting much better at how (teams) are going to defend us and how do we attack it. Teams change from game to game, and you've got to adjust what you're going to do to take advantage of it. And sometimes we're a little bit lax."
Volcano Vision signs on - Volcano Vision, a cable company that serves small foothill communities, will carry Comcast SportsNet West, which includes Kings games on channel 20. The cable system serves 4,300 subscribers in the towns of Ione, Buena Vista, Lake Camanche, Jackson Pines, Pine Grove, Volcano, Pioneer, Buckhorn, West Point, Wilseyville and Kirkwood.
Bibby gets off to solid start
Coach Rick Adelman is looking for opportunities for Sacramento's hot point guard to score.
By Martin McNeal -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PST Friday, November 19, 2004
Guard Mike Bibby is shooting 47.4 percent from the field and averaging 18.2 points per game while running the offense for the Kings this season.
Kings guard Mike Bibby and coach Rick Adelman now are joined at the hip, whether they like it or not, since it was reported last week they'd had an altercation on an airplane - a claim both deny.
Just like Bibby and former Kings guard Jason Williams have the tether of being the primary pieces in a June 27, 2001, trade between Sacramento and the Vancouver Grizzlies.
Things have changed greatly since then. The Grizzlies now reside in Memphis, and pogo-stick Stromile Swift is the only remaining Grizzly who teamed with Bibby.
So tonight's game at Arco Arena against Memphis is just another one for Bibby, 26, because if you hear him tell it, all of the games are the same.
He doesn't care if people are with him or against him, the approach will be the same. Whether you can believe Bibby when he says, "You know, I don't care what anybody says about me," that remains a question. But in this specific instance, Bibby's words are more believable.
"I'm going at everybody's neck anyway regardless of if anybody is talking bad about me or what is said," said Bibby, who has scored 20 or more points in five of Sacramento's past seven games.
"So I'm going to try and go hard. I just let the pride I take in myself carry me. I hate losing. I hate somebody showing me up."
As an example, he points to a preseason game against Phoenix.
"They were over there laughing at us," Bibby said. "That's the way we're supposed to play. That's the way we've played in the past, and we're out there joking, smiling and having fun and doing whatever we want to do.
"And when somebody does it to us and for us not to respond, then that wasn't us. But we're bouncing back good and I think we're ready to handle all of this stuff now."
Bibby struggled in the first half of the season's first game, but Adelman said his point guard has been very good since. Bibby is averaging 18.3 points per game on 47.4 percent shooting, including 48.5 percent from three-point range.
Bibby makes shots in some of the game's most anxious moments. And as long as Bibby is shooting well, Adelman and his coaching staff will continue to try and find shots for him.
"I think he's been very aggressive in the way he's approached it offensively," Adelman said. "With the way we struggled early, that was very important. But I think we have to keep finding ways, if he keeps playing at this level, to make sure he's going to get his opportunities."
Adelman said the key is to mix up the shots.
"It just can't be the same thing all the time," Adelman said. "We've got to keep adding things for him."
Adelman was asked about Bibby's proficiency for playing the pick-and-roll with both Chris Webber and Brad Miller.
"I think both of those guys are so unique in that they both can make the 16-footer," Adelman said of his big men. "If you throw them the ball, they can make plays. I think the biggest thing that they have to continue to work at, and there is a correlation there, is that they've got to set better picks.
"They've got to take up more room, be sure they get a piece of Mike's guy, and Mike's got to have the patience to let them come get him. Because once they set that screen, it just opens it up the defense."
Adelman says Bibby can run the attack because he sees what is being done and often has an alternative attack.
"Maybe one pick-and-roll isn't going to work, but we can change our angle and do different things and still create the same situation," Adelman said. "I think he's getting much better at how (teams) are going to defend us and how do we attack it. Teams change from game to game, and you've got to adjust what you're going to do to take advantage of it. And sometimes we're a little bit lax."
Volcano Vision signs on - Volcano Vision, a cable company that serves small foothill communities, will carry Comcast SportsNet West, which includes Kings games on channel 20. The cable system serves 4,300 subscribers in the towns of Ione, Buena Vista, Lake Camanche, Jackson Pines, Pine Grove, Volcano, Pioneer, Buckhorn, West Point, Wilseyville and Kirkwood.
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