http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/basketball/kings/story/14135953p-14964778c.html
Marty Mac's World: With Artest, familiarity will breed enchantment
By Martin McNeal -- Bee Sports Columnist
Published 2:15 am PST Tuesday, January 31, 2006
The more Kings fans see Ron Artest play, the more they'll become enthralled with his skills and abilities.
Yet what will touch them more intimately is his mentality and how it oozes through his pores and emerges in his actions.
He's a 6-foot-7 perimeter bully (and that's a good thing) who does what few of his teammates either want to do or are incapable of doing: Artest challenges opponents for space on every foot of the basketball court. It takes a certain confidence and physical approach, because if someone - such as a Bonzi Wells-type - who has a similar mentality resists, there can be problems.
Entering this season, Artest wanted there to be more to Ron-Ron. He says he came into camp at 275 pounds because he wanted to be stronger.
"I wanted to play at 275," he said. "It wasn't like I was out of shape or anything. I wanted to see what that would be like. But I couldn't do it. So I just stopped lifting weights. Now, I'm down to 260, and that's the weight I want to play at."
Artest is a rare breed of strength and quickness combined with skill. He's virtually ambidextrous when it comes to going to the basket.
He clearly was well-coached during his four years at LaSalle Academy, a private school in Manhattan ("no one wants to go to public school in New York") and two years at St. John's University even before playing for the Chicago Bulls and Indiana Pacers. While Artest has been accused of many things, having a poor work ethic is not one.
Now, the 26-year-old Artest has another chance to do what he has done - and possibly, as Kings president of basketball operations Geoff Petrie said late Monday afternoon, maybe even more.
However, Artest's ability to control his emotions will be the key. No one will be expecting Artest to turn into Steve Urkel in the old sitcom, "Family Matters." But Artest is making $6.5 million this season and will earn $7.15 million and $7.8 million during the next two seasons before choosing either to sign for $8.45 million in 2008-09 or becoming a free agent after the 2007-08 campaign.
How much would a healthy and relatively controlled 28-year-old Artest command on the free-agent market? Woo, woo, woo! History says we may never know, but that's the roll of the dice the Kings will be waiting to see settle on the table.
Pugh the star
Former Grant High School and Sacramento State standout Jameel Pugh wasn't able to make into an NBA camp, but he's currently hanging out with some big-time clientele. And he could be coming to a TV screen near you.
Pugh is the high-flying star in a pilot that was filmed last week in Los Angeles about a pro basketball team named the San Diego Manta Rays. Maloof Productions, the NBA and Section Eight, the production company owned by actor George Clooney, are behind the project, which is being pitched first to HBO.
Those behind the project are looking for authenticity, and the basketball action is intentionally allowed to be as natural as possible. Don Nelson, the former coach of the Dallas Mavericks, coaches Pugh and the Manta Rays, while former Lakers and Clippers star guard Norm Nixon is the general manager.
And in a bizarre Hollywood-only twist, former King Vlade Divac is a Pugh teammate.
About the writer:
The Bee's Martin McNeal can be reached at mmcneal@sacbee.com
Marty Mac's World: With Artest, familiarity will breed enchantment
By Martin McNeal -- Bee Sports Columnist
Published 2:15 am PST Tuesday, January 31, 2006
The more Kings fans see Ron Artest play, the more they'll become enthralled with his skills and abilities.
Yet what will touch them more intimately is his mentality and how it oozes through his pores and emerges in his actions.
He's a 6-foot-7 perimeter bully (and that's a good thing) who does what few of his teammates either want to do or are incapable of doing: Artest challenges opponents for space on every foot of the basketball court. It takes a certain confidence and physical approach, because if someone - such as a Bonzi Wells-type - who has a similar mentality resists, there can be problems.
Entering this season, Artest wanted there to be more to Ron-Ron. He says he came into camp at 275 pounds because he wanted to be stronger.
"I wanted to play at 275," he said. "It wasn't like I was out of shape or anything. I wanted to see what that would be like. But I couldn't do it. So I just stopped lifting weights. Now, I'm down to 260, and that's the weight I want to play at."
Artest is a rare breed of strength and quickness combined with skill. He's virtually ambidextrous when it comes to going to the basket.
He clearly was well-coached during his four years at LaSalle Academy, a private school in Manhattan ("no one wants to go to public school in New York") and two years at St. John's University even before playing for the Chicago Bulls and Indiana Pacers. While Artest has been accused of many things, having a poor work ethic is not one.
Now, the 26-year-old Artest has another chance to do what he has done - and possibly, as Kings president of basketball operations Geoff Petrie said late Monday afternoon, maybe even more.
However, Artest's ability to control his emotions will be the key. No one will be expecting Artest to turn into Steve Urkel in the old sitcom, "Family Matters." But Artest is making $6.5 million this season and will earn $7.15 million and $7.8 million during the next two seasons before choosing either to sign for $8.45 million in 2008-09 or becoming a free agent after the 2007-08 campaign.
How much would a healthy and relatively controlled 28-year-old Artest command on the free-agent market? Woo, woo, woo! History says we may never know, but that's the roll of the dice the Kings will be waiting to see settle on the table.
Pugh the star
Former Grant High School and Sacramento State standout Jameel Pugh wasn't able to make into an NBA camp, but he's currently hanging out with some big-time clientele. And he could be coming to a TV screen near you.
Pugh is the high-flying star in a pilot that was filmed last week in Los Angeles about a pro basketball team named the San Diego Manta Rays. Maloof Productions, the NBA and Section Eight, the production company owned by actor George Clooney, are behind the project, which is being pitched first to HBO.
Those behind the project are looking for authenticity, and the basketball action is intentionally allowed to be as natural as possible. Don Nelson, the former coach of the Dallas Mavericks, coaches Pugh and the Manta Rays, while former Lakers and Clippers star guard Norm Nixon is the general manager.
And in a bizarre Hollywood-only twist, former King Vlade Divac is a Pugh teammate.
About the writer:
The Bee's Martin McNeal can be reached at mmcneal@sacbee.com
