Kings @ Sonics 10/25/06

[kennadog]

Yes, Ron just thinks he needs to do it all. Some Pacers fans did warn us, that they would get frustrated with what they perceived was Ron shooting the Pacers out of games at times. I think that will be an extremely touchy issue to deal with for any coach.

 

[Beezy]

You can hope, but we get Miller back immediately whereas Bibby is gone for weeks.

Ron Artest, though, believes he's on the same level as Kobe and McGrady offensively. He's said it as much numerous times. One of the reasons he wanted out of Indiana was he wanted to play more offense and not be in O'Neal's shadow.

Coach needs a sit down because it doesn't matter how good on defense you are ... you can't ruin the offense. Just as it doesn't matter how good your offense is, you still have to try on defense.

I'd rather have Bibby back immediately and Miller in weeks.
Ron Artest is an awesome player. He brings a lot to the team and if the trade never went down we may have not have made the playoffs, but offensively he's not in the same league as Kobe, McGrady, Lebron, KG, Duncan etc. Shot selection is a major weakness in his game. You can argue he makes it up with toughness & defense but he still needs to improve. I'd rather have quality shots distributed amongst the team than have Artest trying to be the hero with his offense all the time.

 

[BMiller52]

How come you guys are always throwing out Brad's contributions to this team lately?

 

[fnordius]

^ Agreed.... Ron takes too many damn shots... and he has horrible shot selection. I would understand if he's shooting well but with his efficiency he shouldn't be taking so many shots.

Well, look at his choices -- KT + Hart + Taylor + Douby = 2 points on 0-15 FG and 2-4 FT. Half of the team was averaging about 10% shooting, so sometimes his 33% may have been the best option.

 

[chelle]

How come you guys are always throwing out Brad's contributions to this team lately?

I believe that the sooner we get BOTH Bibby and Brad back, the better. I agree, many of us underestimate Brad's value to the team on occasion. I just think that we have seen Mike have a bigger impact on more games than Brad. There is also a much wider talent gap between Bibby and his backups than between Brad and his backup.

 

[HighFlyingMonkey]

It's not a talent issue... It's a stability issue. Mike is the floor leader of this team. Case in point: Look at the difference between first and second quarters. We came out very well, our offense was crisp, but once we lost it, we lacked the team leader to come in and settle back into it.

Ronnie Price, as good as he is, cannot do that. Neither can Salmons. Without Bibby, we have to settle ourselves down by getting some points in the paint through SAR or Ron, or have Martin attack the basket.

 

[SacTownKid]

Losing Mike right now could be a benefit to us in the long run. It will force these guys to get it right and that way when Mike gets back it will all fit together that much better.

 

[Roman]

Well, look at his choices -- KT + Hart + Taylor + Douby = 2 points on 0-15 FG and 2-4 FT. Half of the team was averaging about 10% shooting, so sometimes his 33% may have been the best option.

That's always "poo-poo" logic.

4-5 shots isn't enough to judge someone on. If we did that, Ron Artest might not shoot in alot of games since he quite often misses 5 straight shots.

His problem isn't that he shoots - his problem is that he shoots dumb shots.

Long shots tend to turn into long rebounds. Long rebounds tend to turn into fast break opportunities.

He's got to get his shots in the flow of the offense. He's a bit of a JoaT on offense, he just isn't good enough at any one aspect to truly dominate the ball like he does.

 

[Roman]

How come you guys are always throwing out Brad's contributions to this team lately?

I think that's just me.

Everyone else seems to forget their position at the end of last season.

 

[Padrino]

Losing Mike right now could be a benefit to us in the long run. It will force these guys to get it right and that way when Mike gets back it will all fit together that much better.

i don't know about that. if it were another adelman year, then you might have had a point. but with a whole new coaching regime in town, everybody's trying to adapt. if adelman were still coaching, there would be enough guys familiar with the system to help pick up the slack. but with so much youth on this team, losing two of your primary veterans before the season opener hurts--a lot. miller will be back by the regular season opener (i'm assuming), so hopefully he'll be able to snap back into consciousness long enough to help this team win some games, cuz its gonna be real tough without mike.