Hi all - I'll be preparing a review of each player, Muss, Petrie & the team as a whole over the next couple of days. Please allow me some time as I'll attempt to put quite a bit of thought into each player.
The rules again are similar to my mid-season review. Grades will be issued based on the following:
1. How the individual played compared with expectations
2. How the individual's performance compared with salary
3. Were there any mitigating circumstances which affected performance
4. Statistics do matter!!!
I'll be relying on statistics presented by espn.com, and more specifically, John Hollinger's insider stats. I'll also be relying on analysis provided by Grant Napear and Mike Lamb of Sports 1140 - I know some of you don't like Grant, but on a lot of issues, he has the inside track. Here goes:
Mike Bibby - (D-)
What can you say about his season? He shot terribly, his turnover rate went up, he wasn't clutch, still played terrible defense, seemed to play the entire season as if he were disinterested in the result. After the first twenty games, I kept saying to myself - "ok Mike, time to start playing" - after 40 games, I said the same thing, after 60 games, I was resigned that he just wasn't going to play like the "marginal star" that he usually is. (I say marginal star in a positive way - extremely good player just short of all-star level) Before this season, I think we were all a bit worried that he would opt-out and perhaps go elsewhere - I think now we all WISH he would opt out and go elsewhere to clear cap space.
Grant Napear seems to think that he'll be traded sometime in the offseason, I honestly think that his contract (28 million over 2 years) is too big to really be moved. So in my opinion, he'll be here for the next couple of years. The big question? Is this year's lull permanent? Has he dropped from near all-star level to just an ordinary player?
Shareef Abdur Rahim - (C)
Another King to have a subpar season. While still effective as a post offensive player, still is below average on defense and rebounding, two of the Kings need areas. Shooting % - down, number of free throws per game - down, apathy level - appeared to be the same as other Kings.
He is still an overall partially effective player - I think his days as a starter are over, but on the right squad he could be a very effective 6th man. Problem is, he isn't on the right squad where he could really shine as a 6th man as he was our most effective big the whole season (ain't that scary).
Best case scenario for the Kings and SAR is to see him traded in the offseason. I realize his contract isn't overly burdensome (3 more years at about 6 million per) but with our team going no-where it could be time to see if we could clear his salary for some type of flexibility in the future.
If it were 2002 or 2003, I would have loved to have this version of SAR on our team - a talented offensive player in the post who could help push us over the top - however, with our current team, he is a talented offensive player who is standing in the way of younger players to develop themselves. He is good enough to help us win some games and keep us in that 33-38 per win season level which is good enough to give us "middlling" draft picks for the forseeable future.
Ron Artest - (B) & (F)
Ron gets two grades here - one for statistics and the other for overall team contribution which includes disruptions in the locker room.
Statistically, he had one of his best years ever. He shot the ball well, especially since January 1 as he rebounded from a horrific November and December - (he shot about 47% since January 1st and ended up at 44%) - his rebounding rates went way up (above average for a small forward now) and he continued to handle the ball extremely well. So statistically you look and say, well, even though he didn't appear to have quite the impact that would have been required for him to earn an A, he still had a great season, right?!?!?!
Here's where I'll depend on the judgment of Grant Napear - obviously, Ron has had off the court issues both with his dog and with his wife (or is it girlfriend???). Any kind of brush with the law is inexcusable, let alone physically abusing someone who doesn't nearly have your level of strength. In and of itself, it shows a tremendous character weakness, having the....whatever it takes to hit your wife.
Beyond that, Grant has stated on several occasions that he is a disruptive influence in the locker room and that the other players have a big problem with him. I trust Grant's judgment here since he travels with the team and has a lot of 1 on 1 time with each player.
Basically, it appears that whatever impact Ron has on the court is totally offset by his off the court behavior and locker room disruption. Is he worth the trouble? Probably not.
The good news is (from a basketball perspective - there is no good news when it comes to domestic abuse) his contract is still relatively small and some GM out there is going to take a chance on him. At this point, I'm beating myself up, I'm not sure if everyone remembers the arguments we got into as the trade deadline approached in regards to what we could get for Ron. I distinctly recall saying that Miami's first round pick, Dorrell Wright, and James Posey were "garbage" and that there was no way that I would do that deal. I hope everyone has a good time watching me eat crow and say that I was wrong. At this point, I would jump at the opportunity to have someone take him off of our hands for a good looking young talent and a draft pick around the 17th or 18th spot.
I think he'll be traded this offseason because I'm sure some GM will think they can fix him - that being said, we'll be lucky to get even 40 cents on the dollar in any deal that is made.
Quincy Dooby - (Inc)
Obviously, the kid didn't get enough playing time to really evaluate whether or not he could play in the NBA. He had a few decent games, but at this point, who knows. In my opinion, he looks a bit clumsy on the court and doesn't look like he can pull up and hit jumpers very well either. I don't think he'll ever be a rotation player, but I said the same thing about Kevin Martin as well. I thought at the time that Marcus Williams or Rajon Rondo would have been better picks for the Kings, and Quincy did nothing to dispel that feeling for me.
Francisco Garcia - (C+)
The tale of two seasons for Francisco - The first four months and the last month - first four months he probably earned himself a C- in my eyes, the last month was deserving of a B+. In April he averaged 13 points, almost 5 boards, almost 1 block/steal in just 26 minutes of time per game. This is another one of those "chicken or the egg" things - was he not getting consistent time early in the year due to the fact he was not consistent, or did getting consistent minutes lead to greater production? Look at his game logs - his minutes look almost like a wave, up/down/up/down/up/down
The good of this season - he looked like a legit 3 point shooter the entire year. He also played good defense the entire year (although he looked lost at times) as his length is able to disrupt opponents.
He probably needs more minutes over an extended period of time in order to truly develop (a la Gerald Wallace). I think best case scenario for Francisco is (and what position does he play exactly, SG, SF, PG???) averaging 16 points in 35 minutes with above average rates in steals, blocks and rebounding. I'm just not sure he'll ever get the time here he needs to develop.
Kevin Martin - (A)
Well, ignoring the fact that he just kind of died the last 6 or 7 games of the season, he was the lone bright spot for the Kings the entire year. He exceeded all expectations for the year (except on defense) and was consistently very good. Wtihout him, we lose another 7-8 games.
As stated in my mid-season review, just has a plethora of ways to score the ball and has become extremely adept at drawing fouls. At times he can make me cringe because he is very Ginobili like in regards to flopping.....but I'll forgive him. I think the most impressive part of his game is his body control on offense. He can be going 100% in one direction, but he's effectively able to stop himself, rise up, and make a jump shot. This is a skill not to be underrated in the least. I was watching a game a couple of weeks ago, watched John Salmons effectively try to do the same thing, and it looked horrible. The mid-range game is a tool which is a powerful one - and if he continues to develop it, he'll be an all-star at some point in time.
While I don't necessarily think he's a great ballhandler (and I think this part of his game needs improvement) his turnover rate is exceptionally low for someone who touches the ball as much as he does.
So where does his future lie? I'll give my opinion even though I've been completely wrong about Kevin twice before - I think we've seen the best of Kevin Martin. I think in the future he'll average anywhere between 19-22 ppg, 4-5 rpg, 1 stl pg. I would love to be wrong - I would love to see him come out and average 28 ppg next year and truly become a dominating force but I just don't see that happening. That being said, I'd be happy with this year's numbers over a 10-12 year career for Kevin.
Side note - how much would you be willing to pay him - this is something we're going to have to deal with at the end of next year. I'd also put Kevin in the class of "marginal star", someone who is a well above average NBA player but may never be a superstar. The same class that MIke Bibby was in before this season, or maybe that Rashard Lewis is in. Someone very good, but not great (great as in superstar great) - so how much do you pay such player? On the open market, he will garner max dollars - but do you want to pay someone superstar dollars who is not a superstar?
Brad Miller - (D-)
Terrible season by Miller's standards - shooting % down, rebounding rate down from career averages, turnover rate up (just a bit), blocks & steals, down, offensive rebounds - way down, defense, still bad. According to what he has to say, there MAY be mitigating circumstances as his foot has been bothering him the entire season and goodness knows that basketball players need their feet for the game, perhaps more than anything else. That being said, it's been proven time and time again in the NBA that once hustle/tough guys, guys that thrive more on hustle and toughness than sheer physical talent, seem to peter out by the time they're 30. Miller's age now? 31 - and he will not get younger.
Well, not much you can say about him other than that he'll be here for the foreseeable future with his terrible contract (about 33 million over the next three years), so will his performance improve? Did his foot affect his performance that much and can he come back next year to prior form? It is my opinion that it just won't happen. 7 footers who can at least kind of play find a way to stay in the league for quite some time, but I seriously doubt he'll ever return to the form he exhibited from 2000-2007. His contract will prove to be an albatross over the next three years as we'll be paying superstar money for someone who's talent and production appears to be much better suited to a backup role.
Vitaly Potapenko - (Inc)
Big man, 3.5 million dollar contract, have a good life. he never got much of a shot and from the very little we saw, he probably didn't have the talent to merit any kind of shot. Slow, plodding, unathletic....these are the things that I thought when I watched him play his 20 total minutes for the season.
The rules again are similar to my mid-season review. Grades will be issued based on the following:
1. How the individual played compared with expectations
2. How the individual's performance compared with salary
3. Were there any mitigating circumstances which affected performance
4. Statistics do matter!!!
I'll be relying on statistics presented by espn.com, and more specifically, John Hollinger's insider stats. I'll also be relying on analysis provided by Grant Napear and Mike Lamb of Sports 1140 - I know some of you don't like Grant, but on a lot of issues, he has the inside track. Here goes:
Mike Bibby - (D-)
What can you say about his season? He shot terribly, his turnover rate went up, he wasn't clutch, still played terrible defense, seemed to play the entire season as if he were disinterested in the result. After the first twenty games, I kept saying to myself - "ok Mike, time to start playing" - after 40 games, I said the same thing, after 60 games, I was resigned that he just wasn't going to play like the "marginal star" that he usually is. (I say marginal star in a positive way - extremely good player just short of all-star level) Before this season, I think we were all a bit worried that he would opt-out and perhaps go elsewhere - I think now we all WISH he would opt out and go elsewhere to clear cap space.
Grant Napear seems to think that he'll be traded sometime in the offseason, I honestly think that his contract (28 million over 2 years) is too big to really be moved. So in my opinion, he'll be here for the next couple of years. The big question? Is this year's lull permanent? Has he dropped from near all-star level to just an ordinary player?
Shareef Abdur Rahim - (C)
Another King to have a subpar season. While still effective as a post offensive player, still is below average on defense and rebounding, two of the Kings need areas. Shooting % - down, number of free throws per game - down, apathy level - appeared to be the same as other Kings.
He is still an overall partially effective player - I think his days as a starter are over, but on the right squad he could be a very effective 6th man. Problem is, he isn't on the right squad where he could really shine as a 6th man as he was our most effective big the whole season (ain't that scary).
Best case scenario for the Kings and SAR is to see him traded in the offseason. I realize his contract isn't overly burdensome (3 more years at about 6 million per) but with our team going no-where it could be time to see if we could clear his salary for some type of flexibility in the future.
If it were 2002 or 2003, I would have loved to have this version of SAR on our team - a talented offensive player in the post who could help push us over the top - however, with our current team, he is a talented offensive player who is standing in the way of younger players to develop themselves. He is good enough to help us win some games and keep us in that 33-38 per win season level which is good enough to give us "middlling" draft picks for the forseeable future.
Ron Artest - (B) & (F)
Ron gets two grades here - one for statistics and the other for overall team contribution which includes disruptions in the locker room.
Statistically, he had one of his best years ever. He shot the ball well, especially since January 1 as he rebounded from a horrific November and December - (he shot about 47% since January 1st and ended up at 44%) - his rebounding rates went way up (above average for a small forward now) and he continued to handle the ball extremely well. So statistically you look and say, well, even though he didn't appear to have quite the impact that would have been required for him to earn an A, he still had a great season, right?!?!?!
Here's where I'll depend on the judgment of Grant Napear - obviously, Ron has had off the court issues both with his dog and with his wife (or is it girlfriend???). Any kind of brush with the law is inexcusable, let alone physically abusing someone who doesn't nearly have your level of strength. In and of itself, it shows a tremendous character weakness, having the....whatever it takes to hit your wife.
Beyond that, Grant has stated on several occasions that he is a disruptive influence in the locker room and that the other players have a big problem with him. I trust Grant's judgment here since he travels with the team and has a lot of 1 on 1 time with each player.
Basically, it appears that whatever impact Ron has on the court is totally offset by his off the court behavior and locker room disruption. Is he worth the trouble? Probably not.
The good news is (from a basketball perspective - there is no good news when it comes to domestic abuse) his contract is still relatively small and some GM out there is going to take a chance on him. At this point, I'm beating myself up, I'm not sure if everyone remembers the arguments we got into as the trade deadline approached in regards to what we could get for Ron. I distinctly recall saying that Miami's first round pick, Dorrell Wright, and James Posey were "garbage" and that there was no way that I would do that deal. I hope everyone has a good time watching me eat crow and say that I was wrong. At this point, I would jump at the opportunity to have someone take him off of our hands for a good looking young talent and a draft pick around the 17th or 18th spot.
I think he'll be traded this offseason because I'm sure some GM will think they can fix him - that being said, we'll be lucky to get even 40 cents on the dollar in any deal that is made.
Quincy Dooby - (Inc)
Obviously, the kid didn't get enough playing time to really evaluate whether or not he could play in the NBA. He had a few decent games, but at this point, who knows. In my opinion, he looks a bit clumsy on the court and doesn't look like he can pull up and hit jumpers very well either. I don't think he'll ever be a rotation player, but I said the same thing about Kevin Martin as well. I thought at the time that Marcus Williams or Rajon Rondo would have been better picks for the Kings, and Quincy did nothing to dispel that feeling for me.
Francisco Garcia - (C+)
The tale of two seasons for Francisco - The first four months and the last month - first four months he probably earned himself a C- in my eyes, the last month was deserving of a B+. In April he averaged 13 points, almost 5 boards, almost 1 block/steal in just 26 minutes of time per game. This is another one of those "chicken or the egg" things - was he not getting consistent time early in the year due to the fact he was not consistent, or did getting consistent minutes lead to greater production? Look at his game logs - his minutes look almost like a wave, up/down/up/down/up/down
The good of this season - he looked like a legit 3 point shooter the entire year. He also played good defense the entire year (although he looked lost at times) as his length is able to disrupt opponents.
He probably needs more minutes over an extended period of time in order to truly develop (a la Gerald Wallace). I think best case scenario for Francisco is (and what position does he play exactly, SG, SF, PG???) averaging 16 points in 35 minutes with above average rates in steals, blocks and rebounding. I'm just not sure he'll ever get the time here he needs to develop.
Kevin Martin - (A)
Well, ignoring the fact that he just kind of died the last 6 or 7 games of the season, he was the lone bright spot for the Kings the entire year. He exceeded all expectations for the year (except on defense) and was consistently very good. Wtihout him, we lose another 7-8 games.
As stated in my mid-season review, just has a plethora of ways to score the ball and has become extremely adept at drawing fouls. At times he can make me cringe because he is very Ginobili like in regards to flopping.....but I'll forgive him. I think the most impressive part of his game is his body control on offense. He can be going 100% in one direction, but he's effectively able to stop himself, rise up, and make a jump shot. This is a skill not to be underrated in the least. I was watching a game a couple of weeks ago, watched John Salmons effectively try to do the same thing, and it looked horrible. The mid-range game is a tool which is a powerful one - and if he continues to develop it, he'll be an all-star at some point in time.
While I don't necessarily think he's a great ballhandler (and I think this part of his game needs improvement) his turnover rate is exceptionally low for someone who touches the ball as much as he does.
So where does his future lie? I'll give my opinion even though I've been completely wrong about Kevin twice before - I think we've seen the best of Kevin Martin. I think in the future he'll average anywhere between 19-22 ppg, 4-5 rpg, 1 stl pg. I would love to be wrong - I would love to see him come out and average 28 ppg next year and truly become a dominating force but I just don't see that happening. That being said, I'd be happy with this year's numbers over a 10-12 year career for Kevin.
Side note - how much would you be willing to pay him - this is something we're going to have to deal with at the end of next year. I'd also put Kevin in the class of "marginal star", someone who is a well above average NBA player but may never be a superstar. The same class that MIke Bibby was in before this season, or maybe that Rashard Lewis is in. Someone very good, but not great (great as in superstar great) - so how much do you pay such player? On the open market, he will garner max dollars - but do you want to pay someone superstar dollars who is not a superstar?
Brad Miller - (D-)
Terrible season by Miller's standards - shooting % down, rebounding rate down from career averages, turnover rate up (just a bit), blocks & steals, down, offensive rebounds - way down, defense, still bad. According to what he has to say, there MAY be mitigating circumstances as his foot has been bothering him the entire season and goodness knows that basketball players need their feet for the game, perhaps more than anything else. That being said, it's been proven time and time again in the NBA that once hustle/tough guys, guys that thrive more on hustle and toughness than sheer physical talent, seem to peter out by the time they're 30. Miller's age now? 31 - and he will not get younger.
Well, not much you can say about him other than that he'll be here for the foreseeable future with his terrible contract (about 33 million over the next three years), so will his performance improve? Did his foot affect his performance that much and can he come back next year to prior form? It is my opinion that it just won't happen. 7 footers who can at least kind of play find a way to stay in the league for quite some time, but I seriously doubt he'll ever return to the form he exhibited from 2000-2007. His contract will prove to be an albatross over the next three years as we'll be paying superstar money for someone who's talent and production appears to be much better suited to a backup role.
Vitaly Potapenko - (Inc)
Big man, 3.5 million dollar contract, have a good life. he never got much of a shot and from the very little we saw, he probably didn't have the talent to merit any kind of shot. Slow, plodding, unathletic....these are the things that I thought when I watched him play his 20 total minutes for the season.
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We all know that you mean "bear".
