http://www.sacbee.com/351/story/157778.html
Artest comes up just short in race for steals
The small forward comes back from a slow start shooting to post solid overall statistics.
By Sam Amick and Ailene Voisin - Bee Staff Writers
Last Updated 5:06 am PDT Thursday, April 19, 2007
Once again, they fell short at the end.
Or, at least, Ron Artest did.
In what was one of the only Kings-related races of significance in their season-finale loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday night at Arco Arena, the small forward was bypassed by Golden State's Baron Davis in the fight-to-the-finish battle to be the league leader in steals.
While Davis made three steals in a Warriors victory at Portland that broke his team's 12-season playoff drought, Artest had just two in a setting that was far less celebratory.
Artest had a quiet finish to his season, posting sensational numbers down the stretch and working as hard in practice and during games as he did during the high points of last season. And despite his legal troubles, he produced quite the statistical line.
Artest overcame a slow shooting start and entered the finale with a scoring average (18.8 points per game) that was second on the team and a career high for any season outside of the 2004-05 campaign, in which he was suspended 73 games for his role in the Indiana-Detroit brawl. His shooting percentage (44.1) was a career high outside of 2004-05, as were his three-point percentage (35.7) and rebounding pace (6.6 per game).
And, of course, his steals average coming in (2.13) wasn't quite enough for the top spot but elite nonetheless.
K-Mart is going online -- Kevin Martin not only has to watch the playoffs on television, he has agreed to write a blog throughout the postseason for NBC.
"So now I have to watch," the third-year guard said. "I just hope that I never have to go through this again. Not making the playoffs is not a good feeling. The last few weeks have been really, really draining. Hopefully, we can start another (playoff) streak next year."
Off the air early -- Like all the other members of the organization, longtime Kings announcer Gary Gerould and utilityman Jerry Reynolds weren't thrilled about their earlier-than-usual vacation.
"I was thinking about that a lot these last few days," Gerould said, "and remembering what it's been like these last eight years. There hasn't been any buzz, any anticipation, no sense of eagerly awaiting the playoffs. Just the hint of getting close to the playoffs was so exciting. Now, expectations are so high, everybody expects to get there."
Offered Reynolds, bluntly: "It's pretty much a downer. I'll take the week off and pout, then pout some more."
About the writer: The Bee's Sam Amick can be reached at samick@sacbee.com.
Artest comes up just short in race for steals
The small forward comes back from a slow start shooting to post solid overall statistics.
By Sam Amick and Ailene Voisin - Bee Staff Writers
Last Updated 5:06 am PDT Thursday, April 19, 2007
Once again, they fell short at the end.
Or, at least, Ron Artest did.
In what was one of the only Kings-related races of significance in their season-finale loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday night at Arco Arena, the small forward was bypassed by Golden State's Baron Davis in the fight-to-the-finish battle to be the league leader in steals.
While Davis made three steals in a Warriors victory at Portland that broke his team's 12-season playoff drought, Artest had just two in a setting that was far less celebratory.
Artest had a quiet finish to his season, posting sensational numbers down the stretch and working as hard in practice and during games as he did during the high points of last season. And despite his legal troubles, he produced quite the statistical line.
Artest overcame a slow shooting start and entered the finale with a scoring average (18.8 points per game) that was second on the team and a career high for any season outside of the 2004-05 campaign, in which he was suspended 73 games for his role in the Indiana-Detroit brawl. His shooting percentage (44.1) was a career high outside of 2004-05, as were his three-point percentage (35.7) and rebounding pace (6.6 per game).
And, of course, his steals average coming in (2.13) wasn't quite enough for the top spot but elite nonetheless.
K-Mart is going online -- Kevin Martin not only has to watch the playoffs on television, he has agreed to write a blog throughout the postseason for NBC.
"So now I have to watch," the third-year guard said. "I just hope that I never have to go through this again. Not making the playoffs is not a good feeling. The last few weeks have been really, really draining. Hopefully, we can start another (playoff) streak next year."
Off the air early -- Like all the other members of the organization, longtime Kings announcer Gary Gerould and utilityman Jerry Reynolds weren't thrilled about their earlier-than-usual vacation.
"I was thinking about that a lot these last few days," Gerould said, "and remembering what it's been like these last eight years. There hasn't been any buzz, any anticipation, no sense of eagerly awaiting the playoffs. Just the hint of getting close to the playoffs was so exciting. Now, expectations are so high, everybody expects to get there."
Offered Reynolds, bluntly: "It's pretty much a downer. I'll take the week off and pout, then pout some more."
About the writer: The Bee's Sam Amick can be reached at samick@sacbee.com.
