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Marty Mac's World: OK, so I can't work as a psychic
By Martin McNeal -- Bee Sports Columnist
Published 2:15 am PST Thursday, March 16, 2006
Story appeared in Sports section, Page C2
So far, so incredible.
My assessments of the Kings' fortunes this season have been about as accurate as Shaquille O'Neal at the free-throw line.
I thought they'd win 50 games. They only need to go 17-1 in their remaining regular-season games to make that happen.
There was no way the Kings would trade Peja Stojakovic and certainly not for Ron Artest, given his history of erratic behavior.
As my boy Jethro Bodine from the old "Beverly Hillbillies" television show might say, Ought for four!
The Kings are a completely different crew than the one that opened the season.
In Artest, Kevin Martin and Kenny Thomas, there are three different starters.
That 15-7 mark with Artest in the lineup has exceeded the expectations of most.
And the Kings have more toughness since the days of Michael "The Animal" Smith, Brian Grant, Mitch Richmond and Sarunas Marciulionis called Arco Arena their crib in the mid-1990s.
Sacramento - with Artest, Martin, Thomas, Bonzi Wells, Shareef Abdur-Rahim and Francisco García - no longer has difficulty hanging with athletic squads - a major weakness in the past.
And although you can't give all the credit to Artest, most of the accolades have to go to the young fella from Queensbridge, N.Y. And as a hooper, that's not too surprising. The guy is all hard-hat. He brings the flavor and fire every day, be it practice or game time, and that has filtered down to the rest of his teammates.
Artest's jump shot is coming around in a major way as he regains conditioning.
He loves the fact that Kings coach Rick Adelman is wise enough to put the ball into his hands and allow him to create and make decisions.
Moreover, should the Kings continue to roll the way they have - and there is no reason to believe they won't - Artest will lead them into the playoffs as a hot, dangerous and capable crew.
History says the odds are against them, but the Kings are capable of winning in Dallas, San Antonio, Phoenix and Denver, the four squads they could face in the first round. San Antonio would be the Kings' biggest obstacle. The three-game road trip in early April through Dallas, San Antonio and Los Angeles to face the Clippers will be interesting.
Artest's ability to step up on each end of the floor against the Lakers on Tuesday bodes well, however. The last time Kobe Bryant had three shots blocked, including two fadeaway jumpers, probably came as a boy when he was playing against his 6-foot-10 pops, Joe "Jellybean" Bryant.
A primary indicator of Artest's impact has been Sacramento's 6-1 record after a loss. Before his arrival, the Kings were 10-14 in those situations. So far, Ron-Ron has been as good as I have been wrong. And that's a good thing.
Officials hallucinate too often
Few things are worse for a player than having a referee call something that didn't happen. It's one thing to miss a call, but to somehow see something that didn't happen can be a bit much. It happens all the time, and for referees, the invention of TiVo is their worst nightmare.
Tuesday night, referee Matt Boland whistled Wells for a foul on Los Angeles' Lamar Odom late in the game when there was no contact. Adelman, who was standing next to Boland, couldn't believe it, not to mention what Wells thought about it.
It's a different world
As of Wednesday evening, there were tickets available at Indiana's Conseco Fieldhouse for Artest's return against the Pacers and Stojakovic.
Link
By Martin McNeal -- Bee Sports Columnist
Published 2:15 am PST Thursday, March 16, 2006
Story appeared in Sports section, Page C2
So far, so incredible.
My assessments of the Kings' fortunes this season have been about as accurate as Shaquille O'Neal at the free-throw line.
I thought they'd win 50 games. They only need to go 17-1 in their remaining regular-season games to make that happen.
There was no way the Kings would trade Peja Stojakovic and certainly not for Ron Artest, given his history of erratic behavior.
As my boy Jethro Bodine from the old "Beverly Hillbillies" television show might say, Ought for four!
The Kings are a completely different crew than the one that opened the season.
In Artest, Kevin Martin and Kenny Thomas, there are three different starters.
That 15-7 mark with Artest in the lineup has exceeded the expectations of most.
And the Kings have more toughness since the days of Michael "The Animal" Smith, Brian Grant, Mitch Richmond and Sarunas Marciulionis called Arco Arena their crib in the mid-1990s.
Sacramento - with Artest, Martin, Thomas, Bonzi Wells, Shareef Abdur-Rahim and Francisco García - no longer has difficulty hanging with athletic squads - a major weakness in the past.
And although you can't give all the credit to Artest, most of the accolades have to go to the young fella from Queensbridge, N.Y. And as a hooper, that's not too surprising. The guy is all hard-hat. He brings the flavor and fire every day, be it practice or game time, and that has filtered down to the rest of his teammates.
Artest's jump shot is coming around in a major way as he regains conditioning.
He loves the fact that Kings coach Rick Adelman is wise enough to put the ball into his hands and allow him to create and make decisions.
Moreover, should the Kings continue to roll the way they have - and there is no reason to believe they won't - Artest will lead them into the playoffs as a hot, dangerous and capable crew.
History says the odds are against them, but the Kings are capable of winning in Dallas, San Antonio, Phoenix and Denver, the four squads they could face in the first round. San Antonio would be the Kings' biggest obstacle. The three-game road trip in early April through Dallas, San Antonio and Los Angeles to face the Clippers will be interesting.
Artest's ability to step up on each end of the floor against the Lakers on Tuesday bodes well, however. The last time Kobe Bryant had three shots blocked, including two fadeaway jumpers, probably came as a boy when he was playing against his 6-foot-10 pops, Joe "Jellybean" Bryant.
A primary indicator of Artest's impact has been Sacramento's 6-1 record after a loss. Before his arrival, the Kings were 10-14 in those situations. So far, Ron-Ron has been as good as I have been wrong. And that's a good thing.
Officials hallucinate too often
Few things are worse for a player than having a referee call something that didn't happen. It's one thing to miss a call, but to somehow see something that didn't happen can be a bit much. It happens all the time, and for referees, the invention of TiVo is their worst nightmare.
Tuesday night, referee Matt Boland whistled Wells for a foul on Los Angeles' Lamar Odom late in the game when there was no contact. Adelman, who was standing next to Boland, couldn't believe it, not to mention what Wells thought about it.
It's a different world
As of Wednesday evening, there were tickets available at Indiana's Conseco Fieldhouse for Artest's return against the Pacers and Stojakovic.
Link
