Kings notes: Easy baskets thing of past

VF21

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#1
http://www.sacbee.com/351/story/39340.html

Kings Notes: Easy baskets thing of past
By Joe Davidson - Bee Staff Writer
Last Updated 12:13 am PDT Saturday, October 14, 2006

Eric Musselman has ordered up some knocks, bumps and hacks this preseason.

In other words, fouls in a wise amount of abundance.

The Kings' first-year coach wants opponents to earn inside buckets. That's what seemingly every coach suggests to their team. But Musselman isn't suggesting. He's ordering. Sacramento ranked last in the NBA in player disqualifications in 2005-06, which is another way of saying it was too nice, too often.

"We had six foul-outs, and two of them were by Peja Stojakovic," Musselman said. "We have to be more aggressive. You'll see us foul a lot more."

The Kings displayed no inside-the-paint generosity Thursday night in trouncing host Dallas 111-90 in a preseason opener. The Kings were physical and active, unyielding and feisty.

"You have to play hard in this league, especially on defense, or guys will just take it at you," Kings forward Ron Artest said. "I think we'll be better (with the fouls and hard play) this season."

Rebound, good man -- Artest can do just about anything he wants on defense: deny, steal, move his feet. But rebounding? Artest is the first to raise his hand in guilt.

"I need to be a better rebounder," he said. "I have to be so I can help this team."

Said Musselman, "We've had conversations about it. We told him that he could lead all small forwards in the league in rebounding. Be the No. 1 rebounder. He's got to focus on that. That's one area he can get better."

Artest said he's perfectly capable of boarding better.

"When he wants to rebound, he can rebound with anyone," Musselman said. "We're getting in his ear about it."

Out on the town -- As part of the NBA Cares campaign, "Paint the Town," Kings players and coaches will visit local establishments to interact with fans today. From 2:30-3:30 p.m., Brad Miller, Kenny Thomas, Louis Amundson, Justin Williams and assistant coaches Scott Brooks and Jason Hamm will be at Les Schwab in Elk Grove to greet customers. From 3:30-4:30 p.m., Mike Bibby, Corliss Williamson, John Salmons and assistant coaches T.R. Dunn, Brendan O'Connor and Mark Hughes will be at the Jack in the Box on Watt Avenue to help take orders.

First cut -- Free-agent rookie Eugene "Pooh" Jeter was released Friday afternoon, Kings president of basketball operations Geoff Petrie announced.

About the writer: The Bee's Joe Davidson can be reached at jdavidson@ sacbee.com.
 

VF21

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#2
"You have to play hard in this league, especially on defense, or guys will just take it at you," Kings forward Ron Artest said. "I think we'll be better (with the fouls and hard play) this season."
I was overjoyed (close to actual elation) to see the Kings consistently shutting down the lane. It was no longer the diamond lane. It was the "enter at your own risk" lane, and it warmed this Kings fan's heart!

There are going to be some very surprised players in the NBA this year. Players who have gotten their names in lights by cruising to temporary star status because of the lack of opposition in the paint are going to be running into actual resistance. I expect to see some very surprised looks on occasion.

It's a good time to be a Kings fan!

:D
 
#4
Said Musselman, "We've had conversations about it. We told him that he could lead all small forwards in the league in rebounding. Be the No. 1 rebounder. He's got to focus on that. That's one area he can get better."
With Artest's wide body and strong build he can certainly box out better than most of the SFs in the league, but he doesn't have the vertical to do what Shawn Marion can do, for example.
 
#5
Brad Miller is the absolute worst at preventing "easies". He's sort of a combination between Casper & Wendy in his consistent soft disappearance.

Seeing will be believing when it comes to Brad around the basket.
 

VF21

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#6
Brad Miller is the absolute worst at preventing "easies". He's sort of a combination between Casper & Wendy in his consistent soft disappearance.

Seeing will be believing when it comes to Brad around the basket.
I did see it...against the Mavs a couple of nights ago.

Until you see this year's version of the Sacramento Kings, you might want to be a little cautious about relying on past assessments. There's a new sheriff in town - and he has the deputies doing a lot of stuff we're just not used to seeing.
 

HndsmCelt

Hall of Famer
#7
Well the truth may be somewhere inbetween LAKings and VF21's perspective. Miller was NOT allways soft. Infact the knock on him before he doned Kings togs was that he was foul prone and some what of a banger. Then he was COACHED into playing a finesss game and cautioned aobut fouls beceause RA wanted minuets out of him and NEVER had a decent back up center. Now enter the Muss erra and who knows what to expect from Brad. He will never be a great shot blocker or great at gaurding the lane, BUT he can fill paint, he can knock little guys on their *** and he is MORE than capible of hard fouls that force guys to make thier points from the line. His one game under Muss looked good but as we say when defending guys... it still was only one game. In this case the wear and tear of banging every night might not even make it wise for Brad to play too physical but hey a nice hard foul will get me out of my seat!
 

VF21

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#8
I agree entirely that it was just one game.

But, having said that, there is a basic conceptual difference that was apparent and I doubt will change. Muss has made it abundantly clear that he will expect players to USE their personal fouls at the right times. I used to scream at the screen to try and get someone to commit a foul. I actually wondered if Adelman had some kind of fine for people who committed more than 1 or 2 personal fouls a game.

I wouldn't mind seeing Miller with 4 or 5 fouls a night. Nor Artest. Nor Martin. Nor Bibby. Nor KT. Provided they're smart fouls. Fouls that send a message to the guy on the receiving end.

I firmly believe there's every reason to believe, based on what I've seen and what I've heard, that our Kings are going to be much more physical when it comes to defending the paint. And I'm extremely glad to see it!!!
 
#9
If the Kings can get the reputation that they are going to play defense and play it hard, it may have a influence on the officiating. I firmly believe defensive minded teams get a little more leaway in the calls because it is expected, just like when you play aggressive.

IMHO of course.
 

Warhawk

The cake is a lie.
Staff member
#10
If the Kings can get the reputation that they are going to play defense and play it hard, it may have a influence on the officiating. I firmly believe defensive minded teams get a little more leaway in the calls because it is expected, just like when you play aggressive.

IMHO of course.
For example:

Jazz
Chicago
Detroit



I agree. Keep it coming guys. I like what I see.
 
#11
I hope they always play like that, i was so surprised on Thursday that i could hardly believe it. I don't care if it was preseason, the effort was there in the preseason and that makes it all the more impressive.
 
#12
Chicago actually haven't really had that respect of the Spurs/Pistons yet. This season? Oh yeah, a bunch of factors will get them that now.

Kings I think can as well.
 

Entity

Hall of Famer
#13
One things that is pissing me off is the ppl saying its only 1 preseason game. yeah we know that but thats 1 more preseason game than played that well on defense in vs. 0 in previous preseasons.
 
#14
One things that is pissing me off is the ppl saying its only 1 preseason game. yeah we know that but thats 1 more preseason game than played that well on defense in vs. 0 in previous preseasons.
I don't understand why it pisses you off just because the Kings played defense well on ONE PRE-SEASON game. What if they don't play well on defense the next PRE-SEASON game? Well it pee you off if they don't play defense the next pre-season game? Why don't you wait till the Kings play a few more games and then decide. Just my 2 cents worth.
 
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Bricklayer

Don't Make Me Use The Bat
#15
Well there are tow parts to the preseason thing:

1) Effort -- now that was what was good to see -- balls to the wall effort. That can/should/hopefilly will carry over.; but

2) Results -- that is not as clear. Basically the defensive technique we used works far far better against a team in an early preseason game than it does in the regular season. Kind of built for such a matchup actually. Full court pressure while another team is just waking up off the long summer nap, doesn;t have its main ballhandlers there etc.


So results wise, preseason 1 may not say that much. It was kind of a gimmick -- reminded me of what Pitino tried to institute in Boston (which failed obviously). But the effort was impressive, and gimmicks or whatever aside, the effort alone will/can make us a pretty good defensive team. Back in our best years, it wasn't a total turnover in personnel that turned us from a fun little highlight team to a serious contender, it was a teamwide committment to defense and getting serious that started in 2001 after we picked up Doug, Bobby and Hedo and decided we wanted to win.
 
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Entity

Hall of Famer
#16
its like this rock. Bibby has NEVER played defense like that. not in preseason not in regular season not in playoffs not in backyard ball. So 1 game and that game being the first of the defensive dynamic being preached is a pretty good sign so the 1 preseason game is relevant to me.
 
#17
First of all Bibby can put in some effort and that should be good for the team on the defensive side, but you cannot expect him to become a decent defender after just 1 or 2 months of practice. It takes atleast a season to become better at defense.

Fouls while there are plenty to give I think Muss will be ordering the PFs and SGs to give the fouls and not anyone else on the team, thats the place where the team has depth and are replaceable. I dont think you want Brad or bibby to be in foul trouble early on, that will put them in a big hole from which they cannot recover. Ron tried some ball handling last season and be the initiator but that was ugly and teams can pick that apart easily, you dont want to be in that situation consistently.

Preseason game full court press does nothing, other than to excite the fans and give the players an oppurtunity to practice it against better players. To be a full court press team you need lots of energy and stamina and your offense will suffer cos the players are generally tired. other teams will come in prepared for full court press when regular season starts, maybe the second unit having the full court press might work to get some easy scores. The other side of it is that when teams do get past the full court press there is a big mismatch or an easy score waiting.
 
#18
Brad Miller is the absolute worst at preventing "easies". He's sort of a combination between Casper & Wendy in his consistent soft disappearance.

Seeing will be believing when it comes to Brad around the basket.

you're not the only one. one meaningless preseason game against a low-powered maverick team is not going to win me or anyone else over. until brad shows this during the season i agree with LA KingFan. if everyone knew how soft miller is they would recall baby wipes.
 

VF21

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#19
I'm pretty sure winning you over is pretty low on Brad Miller's "things to do" list.

Did you see the game? If you didn't, then you might want to at least give some credence to the opinions of those who DID.
 
#20
brad miller has a history of playing soft. now the old saying goes "that was then, this is now" and i would certainly love to give miller his props on a job well done for thursday, but he hasnt done anything. its preseason. mavs sat 3 starters. harris didnt even play. and i didnt see the game. i guess he's more aggressive. but lets not get ahead of ourselves.
 

VF21

Super Moderator Emeritus
SME
#21
Yeah, whatever.

I'm not getting ahead myself, but I'm not mired in hatred for a Kings player, either.

This is the pre-season when we have high hopes for the year to come. We're going to grab onto early clues as a way to try and predict what MIGHT happen. I'm saying - and other are, too - that what we saw was a Miller who is leaner, in better condition than previous training camps, etc. Those are GOOD things.

What I saw was more hustle up and down the court, a lot more play from the high post, excellent passing, good defense in the paint (and I remarked on this multiple times during the PBP).

If you can't be just a little excited about the possibilities, why even watch pre-season?
 
#22
Actually, I don't really think Brad is that soft. I'm not even sure if he doesn't intend to disrupt easy shots. The problem is he doesn't, and hasn't for the last couple of years. IMO he is not physically gifted enough to do anything around the basket to prevent easies. He certainly can't jump explosively, and his hands are too slow to reach in and slap the ball away. His reactions around the hoop are just too slow to disrupt things inside.

Brad is good at what he does as an offensive center. He simply needs a power forward with him or center to make up for earth-bound weakness inside. Pretty old news for all of us, yet somehow we still haven't added a player to solve the problem. Still, our team will be fun enough to watch in the 45-50 win range. Can we really expect more with Brad/Thomas/Rahim inside?

The most distressing thing about our Kings is that Corliss Williamson deserves playing time. He's a good guy and was a decent player at one time, but it is regrettable that in his later days he's our best inside presence aside from some strange surprises that may appear within camp.
 

VF21

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#23
1. What people are trying to say is that Brad is in much better condition - probably because of the national team - than we've seen him at this point in the year in ... well, forever.

2. I think Corliss will see consistent court time. I'm just not sure how many minutes, of course, because we have no idea yet what type of rotations Muss will utilize. I do think he's liable to be a bit more flexible.
 
#24
Actually, I don't really think Brad is that soft. I'm not even sure if he doesn't intend to disrupt easy shots. The problem is he doesn't, and hasn't for the last couple of years. IMO he is not physically gifted enough to do anything around the basket to prevent easies. He certainly can't jump explosively, and his hands are too slow to reach in and slap the ball away. His reactions around the hoop are just too slow to disrupt things inside.

Brad is good at what he does as an offensive center. He simply needs a power forward with him or center to make up for earth-bound weakness inside. Pretty old news for all of us, yet somehow we still haven't added a player to solve the problem. Still, our team will be fun enough to watch in the 45-50 win range. Can we really expect more with Brad/Thomas/Rahim inside?

The most distressing thing about our Kings is that Corliss Williamson deserves playing time. He's a good guy and was a decent player at one time, but it is regrettable that in his later days he's our best inside presence aside from some strange surprises that may appear within camp.
bingo. good post. im hoping we'll find a pleasant suprise in maurice taylor. no one in our front court is agressive. if SAR had kenny thomas' rebounding we'd be ok.
 

gunks

Hall of Famer
#25
Taylor is a worse rebounder and shotblocker then SAR, so I wouldnt get my hopes up about him...And I actually think we'll probably see a few more boards from Shareef this season with Bonzi gone. (Then again he only had 1 in that preseason game...Not a good way to start things off)

...I think we gotta hope either Woods, Williams, or Amundson can give the Kings that front court inside presence, or else we are gonna have to wait for Petrie to pull off a trade to get that defensive big to compliment Miller.
 

gunks

Hall of Famer
#27
Knocking passes outta bounds is what he means by Deflections too though. Although Miller did actually have 2 blocks that first preseason game.
 
#28
Expecting Miller to be a shot-blocker is like expecting Ben Wallace to be a 20 ppg scorer. Its just not going to happen. However, if Brad can get his mean streak back and put a couple of penetrators on their backside with a hard foul or two, I would be happy. We still will be in the bottom echelon of the league when it comes to shot blocking but if we lift up the intensity in other areas we can somewhat cover that weakness.

Thats why I am keen on Justin Williams sticking around. His shotblocking is very much needed and he is a hustler than likes to rebound. Sure, he is a rookie and unlikely to see many minutes if he sticks around but I would rather back him in and give him a chance to prove himself than go with someone like Woods who has shown time and time what he is made off (or not;) )
 
#29
2. I think Corliss will see consistent court time. I'm just not sure how many minutes, of course, because we have no idea yet what type of rotations Muss will utilize. I do think he's liable to be a bit more flexible.
It shall be a good idea to play him. He is the largest of our expiring contracts, and if he displays at least some of his erstwhile skills, he can generate interest at trade time.

Of course, if he displays good skills, we might not want to trade him:)
 
#30
Knocking passes outta bounds is what he means by Deflections too though. Although Miller did actually have 2 blocks that first preseason game.
Deflections also means knocking a pass or dribble away so maybe you or one of your teammates has a chance to grab the ball and hot-foot it in the other direction. To me deflections means a whole lot of things besides just blocked shots.