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http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/basketball/kings/story/11792600p-12677283c.html
Kings notes: Looking for wins against the best
By Joe Davidson -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PST Friday, December 17, 2004
Finally, the Lakers bagged a quality win.Coaches and players will tell you all victories in the NBA are cherished, but it's the ones against the elite teams that shape a team.
In the early going of the season, the Lakers suffered setbacks to San Antonio, Phoenix twice, Sacramento and Seattle.
On Thursday at Arco Arena, the Lakers drubbed the Kings 115-99, making for a relieved and encouraged Rudy Tomjanovich, the first-year Lakers coach who figured his bunch was capable of something like this.
And it wasn't any throttling of the Kings, as good a home team as there is in the NBA over the last four seasons.
Sacramento hadn't been belted this bad at Arco since San Antonio rumbled through 116-95 on March 2, 1998.
The Kings would limp home that losers of 19 of their last 20 contests, prompting wholesale changes that brought in Chris Webber, Vlade Divac, Peja Stojakovic and coach Rick Adelman.
The Kings will contend again this season with that core group, minus Divac, now with the Lakers.
But Los Angeles came into the season with 10 new faces on the roster, with Divac still slowed by a bad back, Brian Grant still out with his own ailments and Karl Malone still a possibility to join the fray.
"Tremendous win for us," Tomjanovich said. "It's very hard to win here. Maybe it's a milestone win for us. Now we have something to talk about."
Odom patrol - The Lakers plan from the start was to attack the rim, with Lamar Odom in particular taking it to Webber.
Good thought, better execution.
Odom scored 12 of his 22 points in the first, challenging Webber on the baseline or anyone else down the lane with drives, finger rolls or dunks. Odom, of course, was a key figure for the Lakers in the Shaquille O'Neal trade to the Miami Heat. He has averaged 14 points and 10.6 rebounds.
"Lamar started it off for us," Tomjanovich said. "Attacking left, attacking right. That set the tone."
Could have been a King - It's just a footnote in the back of the media guide under yearly transactions.
The Kings traded Mateen Cleaves to Cleveland for Jumaine Jones, a deal later rescinded because Cleaves couldn't pass a physical with a bad foot.
Jones now plays for the Lakers, a three-point shooter who hit a career-high seven three-pointers against Orlando on Sunday.
Wouldn't the Kings like to have a bomber like that off the bench to spell Peja Stojakovic?
At one point, that person was Hedo Turkoglu, now with Orlando. Then it was Jim Jackson, now with Houston. Last season, it was Gerald Wallace when he was healthy. He is now with Charlotte.
Jones, anyone?
"I've thought about that," he said, "but not too much because it doesn't matter now. I was here for one day. I passed my physical. But it goes down as the business of basketball, so I moved on."
Mine is worth more - Kings fans cringe anytime the Lakers come out on top, and in this case, the Lakers are still deemed the most valuable NBA franchise for the third successive year, according the Forbes Magazine.
The Lakers are worth $510 million, followed by the New York Knicks ($494 million), the Dallas Mavericks ($374 million) and the Houston Rockets ($369 million). The Kings are ranked No. 10 at $330 million, up two spots from last year when the franchise was worth $275 million.
Et cetera - Brad Miller scored six points for the second successive game, shooting 3 of 8 in each contest for the Kings.
* Mike Bibby had two assists, the lowest for him this season. He averages 6.l a game.
* Kobe Bryant's 12 assists were the most yielded by a Kings opponent all season.
* Bryant has scored 30 or more points in seven of his last eight games against the Kings.
* The Lakers ended a three-game losing streak to the Kings at Arco.
Kings notes: Looking for wins against the best
By Joe Davidson -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PST Friday, December 17, 2004
Finally, the Lakers bagged a quality win.Coaches and players will tell you all victories in the NBA are cherished, but it's the ones against the elite teams that shape a team.
In the early going of the season, the Lakers suffered setbacks to San Antonio, Phoenix twice, Sacramento and Seattle.
On Thursday at Arco Arena, the Lakers drubbed the Kings 115-99, making for a relieved and encouraged Rudy Tomjanovich, the first-year Lakers coach who figured his bunch was capable of something like this.
And it wasn't any throttling of the Kings, as good a home team as there is in the NBA over the last four seasons.
Sacramento hadn't been belted this bad at Arco since San Antonio rumbled through 116-95 on March 2, 1998.
The Kings would limp home that losers of 19 of their last 20 contests, prompting wholesale changes that brought in Chris Webber, Vlade Divac, Peja Stojakovic and coach Rick Adelman.
The Kings will contend again this season with that core group, minus Divac, now with the Lakers.
But Los Angeles came into the season with 10 new faces on the roster, with Divac still slowed by a bad back, Brian Grant still out with his own ailments and Karl Malone still a possibility to join the fray.
"Tremendous win for us," Tomjanovich said. "It's very hard to win here. Maybe it's a milestone win for us. Now we have something to talk about."
Odom patrol - The Lakers plan from the start was to attack the rim, with Lamar Odom in particular taking it to Webber.
Good thought, better execution.
Odom scored 12 of his 22 points in the first, challenging Webber on the baseline or anyone else down the lane with drives, finger rolls or dunks. Odom, of course, was a key figure for the Lakers in the Shaquille O'Neal trade to the Miami Heat. He has averaged 14 points and 10.6 rebounds.
"Lamar started it off for us," Tomjanovich said. "Attacking left, attacking right. That set the tone."
Could have been a King - It's just a footnote in the back of the media guide under yearly transactions.
The Kings traded Mateen Cleaves to Cleveland for Jumaine Jones, a deal later rescinded because Cleaves couldn't pass a physical with a bad foot.
Jones now plays for the Lakers, a three-point shooter who hit a career-high seven three-pointers against Orlando on Sunday.
Wouldn't the Kings like to have a bomber like that off the bench to spell Peja Stojakovic?
At one point, that person was Hedo Turkoglu, now with Orlando. Then it was Jim Jackson, now with Houston. Last season, it was Gerald Wallace when he was healthy. He is now with Charlotte.
Jones, anyone?
"I've thought about that," he said, "but not too much because it doesn't matter now. I was here for one day. I passed my physical. But it goes down as the business of basketball, so I moved on."
Mine is worth more - Kings fans cringe anytime the Lakers come out on top, and in this case, the Lakers are still deemed the most valuable NBA franchise for the third successive year, according the Forbes Magazine.
The Lakers are worth $510 million, followed by the New York Knicks ($494 million), the Dallas Mavericks ($374 million) and the Houston Rockets ($369 million). The Kings are ranked No. 10 at $330 million, up two spots from last year when the franchise was worth $275 million.
Et cetera - Brad Miller scored six points for the second successive game, shooting 3 of 8 in each contest for the Kings.
* Mike Bibby had two assists, the lowest for him this season. He averages 6.l a game.
* Kobe Bryant's 12 assists were the most yielded by a Kings opponent all season.
* Bryant has scored 30 or more points in seven of his last eight games against the Kings.
* The Lakers ended a three-game losing streak to the Kings at Arco.
