bench_blob
Bench
Mike Monroe: Kings' futility opens door for Artest
Web Posted: 12/21/2005 12:07 AM CST
San Antonio Express-News
An NBA talent evaluator whose opinion counts for plenty offered this thought Tuesday as to the kind of team that would consider trading for Indiana's Ron Artest: "Ultimately, it's going to be somebody who figures their chemistry is already so fouled up it can't get any worse, and by bringing in Artest, it might actually get better."
We give you, then, the Sacramento Kings, with assurances the player personnel expert neither specifically mentioned them nor is associated with the Kings.
In fact, the expert had another team in mind as to which might opt to deal for Artest and his baggage. But it seems the Kings fit the scenario perfectly.
When you watch the Kings, you can't help but feel sad that a team that once was entertaining and dangerous is neither fun to watch nor much of a threat to beat an elite team. After losing to the Bobcats on Monday, they are mired deep in the Pacific Division cellar, grateful the Trail Blazers are so dreadful there is at least one team in the Western Conference with a worse record.
It wasn't long ago the Kings came within one game of making it to the NBA Finals, and they are just two seasons removed from winning the Pacific Division title.
Most striking this season is the Kings' lack of a running game and the shocking absence of a perimeter threat with which Pete Carrill's cutting-and-slashing game made them so difficult to defend.
"Our strength has always been passing and shooting," Kings assistant coach Elston Turner said before his team lost to the Spurs on Saturday. "We've always had at least four long-range shooters to stretch the defense and open it up for cuts to allow us to play the way we play.
"If you look at other teams' scouting reports now, I'm assuming Peja (Stojakovic) and Mike (Bibby) would be the only guys the scouts say you really need to guard."
We checked with many scouts, and Turner is right, although one mentioned Brad Miller still has to be guarded around the top of the key.
In other words, the Kings this season just aren't the Kings we grew accustomed to seeing through most of coach Rick Adelman's previous seven seasons.
When the Kings signed Shareef Abdur-Rahim as a free agent this summer, it looked like a solid move that might allow the Kings to compensate for the absence of Chris Webber. Kings fans never really forgave Webber for not being the budding Hall of Famer he was before injuries robbed him of his explosiveness, but running the offense through Abdur-Rahim isn't the dangerous option that running it through Webber was.
Instead, it looks as if the cloud that has rained on Abdur-Rahim at each stop in his nine previous seasons — from Vancouver to Atlanta to Portland — has followed him to Sacramento.
Turner said Abdur-Rahim and Bonzi Wells, who came over in a summer trade for Bobby Jackson, have proven to be good teammates. Both, he said, are willing to share the ball.
Turner cautioned it is much too early to write off a team he still contends will be competitive enough to make the Western Conference playoffs.
He also is smart enough to know the Kings can't turn a cold shoulder to any player with talent, especially one who can shoot.
"Our margin of error is very slim," Turner said. "If Peja has a bad game, we don't have anybody to come off our bench. Not a scorer at least, like we've had in the past. ... We can't afford to have Peja and Mike out of a game at the same time."
Stojakovic's name keeps surfacing in Artest trade rumors, mostly because his salary is close enough to Artest's to render moot all those salary-cap considerations.
Kings officials insist they don't want to trade Stojakovic for Artest. Nevertheless, scenarios of three-way deals involving the Kings, Pacers and several other teams continue to circulate.
The more the Kings lose, the more likely it is one of them will come true.
mikemonroe@express-news.net
Web Posted: 12/21/2005 12:07 AM CST
San Antonio Express-News
An NBA talent evaluator whose opinion counts for plenty offered this thought Tuesday as to the kind of team that would consider trading for Indiana's Ron Artest: "Ultimately, it's going to be somebody who figures their chemistry is already so fouled up it can't get any worse, and by bringing in Artest, it might actually get better."
We give you, then, the Sacramento Kings, with assurances the player personnel expert neither specifically mentioned them nor is associated with the Kings.
In fact, the expert had another team in mind as to which might opt to deal for Artest and his baggage. But it seems the Kings fit the scenario perfectly.
When you watch the Kings, you can't help but feel sad that a team that once was entertaining and dangerous is neither fun to watch nor much of a threat to beat an elite team. After losing to the Bobcats on Monday, they are mired deep in the Pacific Division cellar, grateful the Trail Blazers are so dreadful there is at least one team in the Western Conference with a worse record.
It wasn't long ago the Kings came within one game of making it to the NBA Finals, and they are just two seasons removed from winning the Pacific Division title.
Most striking this season is the Kings' lack of a running game and the shocking absence of a perimeter threat with which Pete Carrill's cutting-and-slashing game made them so difficult to defend.
"Our strength has always been passing and shooting," Kings assistant coach Elston Turner said before his team lost to the Spurs on Saturday. "We've always had at least four long-range shooters to stretch the defense and open it up for cuts to allow us to play the way we play.
"If you look at other teams' scouting reports now, I'm assuming Peja (Stojakovic) and Mike (Bibby) would be the only guys the scouts say you really need to guard."
We checked with many scouts, and Turner is right, although one mentioned Brad Miller still has to be guarded around the top of the key.
In other words, the Kings this season just aren't the Kings we grew accustomed to seeing through most of coach Rick Adelman's previous seven seasons.
When the Kings signed Shareef Abdur-Rahim as a free agent this summer, it looked like a solid move that might allow the Kings to compensate for the absence of Chris Webber. Kings fans never really forgave Webber for not being the budding Hall of Famer he was before injuries robbed him of his explosiveness, but running the offense through Abdur-Rahim isn't the dangerous option that running it through Webber was.
Instead, it looks as if the cloud that has rained on Abdur-Rahim at each stop in his nine previous seasons — from Vancouver to Atlanta to Portland — has followed him to Sacramento.
Turner said Abdur-Rahim and Bonzi Wells, who came over in a summer trade for Bobby Jackson, have proven to be good teammates. Both, he said, are willing to share the ball.
Turner cautioned it is much too early to write off a team he still contends will be competitive enough to make the Western Conference playoffs.
He also is smart enough to know the Kings can't turn a cold shoulder to any player with talent, especially one who can shoot.
"Our margin of error is very slim," Turner said. "If Peja has a bad game, we don't have anybody to come off our bench. Not a scorer at least, like we've had in the past. ... We can't afford to have Peja and Mike out of a game at the same time."
Stojakovic's name keeps surfacing in Artest trade rumors, mostly because his salary is close enough to Artest's to render moot all those salary-cap considerations.
Kings officials insist they don't want to trade Stojakovic for Artest. Nevertheless, scenarios of three-way deals involving the Kings, Pacers and several other teams continue to circulate.
The more the Kings lose, the more likely it is one of them will come true.
mikemonroe@express-news.net
