EmKingsFan4
Starter
Kings notes: 'Ain't nothing to talk about;' still, Jackson speaks
By Martin McNeal -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PDT Thursday, April 28, 2005
Even to the four newest Kings - Cuttino Mobley, Brian Skinner, Kenny Thomas and Corliss Williamson - it's apparent that sixth man Bobby Jackson is going to speak his mind.
Whether it's saying the starters need to bring more intensity when they meet the Seattle SuperSonics on Friday night or criticizing his poor Game 1 play, Jackson has shown he's one of this reconstructed team's leaders.
The guard used a profane word to describe the team's flight back to Sacramento on Tuesday night but added there wasn't much said among the players regarding the way they played in a 105-93 Game 2 loss to the Sonics.
"Ain't nothing to talk about," Jackson said Wednesday. "We didn't come to play. You've got to leave it out on the court. Everybody should know that. We're all grown men, and everybody knows we have to come to play.
"(The Sonics) wanted it more than us. They had better energy. What's there to talk about?"
Jackson said the Kings had two good practices Sunday and Monday before Game 2, but it was hard to tell by the way they played Tuesday.
"We had great practices, and then we went out and forgot about the practices," he said. "It was like we didn't even have practice. It's about focusing for 48 minutes, whether you're in the game or not."
Jackson, who led the Kings with 17 points in Game 2, said the Sonics, who lead the first-round NBA playoff series 2-0, will be confident.
"You get somebody (down) 2-0," he said, "and they're going to come in here ready to try to go at us. So we've got to focus on Friday."
It wouldn't be a bad idea, Jackson said, to focus on Sonics center Jerome James, who has averaged 18.0 points, 12.0 rebounds and 3.0 blocked shots in the series.
Jackson and James work out together during the summer.
"He has all the potential in the world," Jackson said of the former King. "He's starting to put it all together, and he's been working hard.
"Our big men have to make him work for everything he gets. They've got to fight him harder for position and make him fight to get to the basket. If you let anybody (7-foot-1) get as close to the basket as he's been getting, he's going to keep scoring."
Get together, stay together - Skinner was the last Kings big man to enter Game 2, but he had four points, six rebounds, two blocked shots and one steal in 19 minutes.
Skinner said his team must play more as a unit regardless of who's on the floor.
"We've got to get all five on the same page," he said. "You can't have three guys doing one thing and two guys doing something else."
Sonics guard Antonio Daniels has won an NBA title - with the San Antonio Spurs in 1998-99 - and played in 50 playoff games. "No matter what happens - and there will be games that don't go the way you want in the playoffs - you have to stay with what you're trying to do as a team," he said. "You can't stray. You have to play the way you're supposed to be playing."
http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/story/12801172p-13651613c.html
By Martin McNeal -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PDT Thursday, April 28, 2005
Even to the four newest Kings - Cuttino Mobley, Brian Skinner, Kenny Thomas and Corliss Williamson - it's apparent that sixth man Bobby Jackson is going to speak his mind.
Whether it's saying the starters need to bring more intensity when they meet the Seattle SuperSonics on Friday night or criticizing his poor Game 1 play, Jackson has shown he's one of this reconstructed team's leaders.
The guard used a profane word to describe the team's flight back to Sacramento on Tuesday night but added there wasn't much said among the players regarding the way they played in a 105-93 Game 2 loss to the Sonics.
"Ain't nothing to talk about," Jackson said Wednesday. "We didn't come to play. You've got to leave it out on the court. Everybody should know that. We're all grown men, and everybody knows we have to come to play.
"(The Sonics) wanted it more than us. They had better energy. What's there to talk about?"
Jackson said the Kings had two good practices Sunday and Monday before Game 2, but it was hard to tell by the way they played Tuesday.
"We had great practices, and then we went out and forgot about the practices," he said. "It was like we didn't even have practice. It's about focusing for 48 minutes, whether you're in the game or not."
Jackson, who led the Kings with 17 points in Game 2, said the Sonics, who lead the first-round NBA playoff series 2-0, will be confident.
"You get somebody (down) 2-0," he said, "and they're going to come in here ready to try to go at us. So we've got to focus on Friday."
It wouldn't be a bad idea, Jackson said, to focus on Sonics center Jerome James, who has averaged 18.0 points, 12.0 rebounds and 3.0 blocked shots in the series.
Jackson and James work out together during the summer.
"He has all the potential in the world," Jackson said of the former King. "He's starting to put it all together, and he's been working hard.
"Our big men have to make him work for everything he gets. They've got to fight him harder for position and make him fight to get to the basket. If you let anybody (7-foot-1) get as close to the basket as he's been getting, he's going to keep scoring."
Get together, stay together - Skinner was the last Kings big man to enter Game 2, but he had four points, six rebounds, two blocked shots and one steal in 19 minutes.
Skinner said his team must play more as a unit regardless of who's on the floor.
"We've got to get all five on the same page," he said. "You can't have three guys doing one thing and two guys doing something else."
Sonics guard Antonio Daniels has won an NBA title - with the San Antonio Spurs in 1998-99 - and played in 50 playoff games. "No matter what happens - and there will be games that don't go the way you want in the playoffs - you have to stay with what you're trying to do as a team," he said. "You can't stray. You have to play the way you're supposed to be playing."
http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/story/12801172p-13651613c.html
