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No sweat for Kings and coach
There's plenty of hustle and effort on display against the Mavs in the preseason opener.
By Joe Davidson - Bee Staff Writer
Published 12:00 am PDT Friday, October 13, 2006
Eric Musselman received a call from his his 10-year-old son Thursday afternoon via cell phone wondering if pops had a fit of nerves in preparation for his Kings debut.
The coach reported that he was calm, like a ripple-free lake, though he did manage to work out twice to blow off steam. Young Michael? Tied up in knots. Rest easy, lad. The Kings rolled.
Sure, it's preseason, and the Kings' 111-90 triumph over the makeshift Dallas Mavericks was forgotten by about the time the team charter touched back down in Sacramento early this morning, but the element that stood out was exactly what Musselman has pleaded -- and demanded -- since the start of training camp: effort. He received that in abundance from his starters to the end of the bench, with all sorts of wrinkles thrown in at American Airlines Center in front of an announced sellout crowd of 19,982 that frowned throughout a lopsided second half as the Mavs fell to 0-2 in the preseason.
That the Mavericks, winners of the Western Conference last season, played without hobbled mainstays Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Terry, Jerry Stackhouse and Devin Harris made matters a bit easier. Still, Musselman said for the amount of money players and coaches make, folks had best compete as if exploding out of starter's blocks.
"(The Mavericks) didn't have a lot of their guns and that changes things because it'd be a whole different ballgame, but our guys really played hard," Musselman said. "I was most impressed with how we moved the basketball and how we executed."
The Kings' starting group of Mike Bibby and Kevin Martin in the backcourt, Brad Miller in the post and Ron Artest and Kenny Thomas at forward opened with a 9-0 lead, with Bibby hitting two three-pointers. That same group used a 14-3 run to open the third period, with excellent spacing and extra passes, and that Kings lineup stormed to a 75-49 lead with all hands getting involved. In that 26-8 run, the Kings had no turnovers.
"It's a unit that finished the season last year, and it's a unit that has a lot of confidence," Thomas said. "We were big on communicating on defense tonight, where to help. With us, we don't care who gets shots. If we continue to do that the whole year, it's going to be a fun year."
Fifteen NBA scouts were on hand for a peek, with at least two of them jotting down in their notes one word: hustle.
"Dangerous team," one of them said.
And a bit different overall.
Bibby hawked the ball and scored a game-high 19 points in 21 minutes. Miller contested shots and had nine points, five rebounds and four assists in 19 minutes. Artest started 0 for 8 and totaled 13 points, but had six rebounds in 30 minutes. Thomas had four points and five rebounds in 17 minutes, and Martin produced 12 and seven in 22 minutes. Off the bench, Shareef Abdur-Rahim and Corliss Williamson each had 10 points.
There were also half-court traps, some zone looks, some half-court man, enough material to make a player's head spin, only Musselman wouldn't allow it. He coached every minute as if it truly meant something, stomping, hollering, checking notes in his pocket, congratulating players, barking at others for traveling or firing a pass in midair.
"Everyone accepted that we needed to play hard all the time," Miller said
"Hopefully, that's how we play all the time. We've worked pretty hard in camp. This was a chance to get away from practice and see what we could do."
http://www.sacbee.com/351/story/38964.html
There's plenty of hustle and effort on display against the Mavs in the preseason opener.
By Joe Davidson - Bee Staff Writer
Published 12:00 am PDT Friday, October 13, 2006
Eric Musselman received a call from his his 10-year-old son Thursday afternoon via cell phone wondering if pops had a fit of nerves in preparation for his Kings debut.
The coach reported that he was calm, like a ripple-free lake, though he did manage to work out twice to blow off steam. Young Michael? Tied up in knots. Rest easy, lad. The Kings rolled.
Sure, it's preseason, and the Kings' 111-90 triumph over the makeshift Dallas Mavericks was forgotten by about the time the team charter touched back down in Sacramento early this morning, but the element that stood out was exactly what Musselman has pleaded -- and demanded -- since the start of training camp: effort. He received that in abundance from his starters to the end of the bench, with all sorts of wrinkles thrown in at American Airlines Center in front of an announced sellout crowd of 19,982 that frowned throughout a lopsided second half as the Mavs fell to 0-2 in the preseason.
That the Mavericks, winners of the Western Conference last season, played without hobbled mainstays Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Terry, Jerry Stackhouse and Devin Harris made matters a bit easier. Still, Musselman said for the amount of money players and coaches make, folks had best compete as if exploding out of starter's blocks.
"(The Mavericks) didn't have a lot of their guns and that changes things because it'd be a whole different ballgame, but our guys really played hard," Musselman said. "I was most impressed with how we moved the basketball and how we executed."
The Kings' starting group of Mike Bibby and Kevin Martin in the backcourt, Brad Miller in the post and Ron Artest and Kenny Thomas at forward opened with a 9-0 lead, with Bibby hitting two three-pointers. That same group used a 14-3 run to open the third period, with excellent spacing and extra passes, and that Kings lineup stormed to a 75-49 lead with all hands getting involved. In that 26-8 run, the Kings had no turnovers.
"It's a unit that finished the season last year, and it's a unit that has a lot of confidence," Thomas said. "We were big on communicating on defense tonight, where to help. With us, we don't care who gets shots. If we continue to do that the whole year, it's going to be a fun year."
Fifteen NBA scouts were on hand for a peek, with at least two of them jotting down in their notes one word: hustle.
"Dangerous team," one of them said.
And a bit different overall.
Bibby hawked the ball and scored a game-high 19 points in 21 minutes. Miller contested shots and had nine points, five rebounds and four assists in 19 minutes. Artest started 0 for 8 and totaled 13 points, but had six rebounds in 30 minutes. Thomas had four points and five rebounds in 17 minutes, and Martin produced 12 and seven in 22 minutes. Off the bench, Shareef Abdur-Rahim and Corliss Williamson each had 10 points.
There were also half-court traps, some zone looks, some half-court man, enough material to make a player's head spin, only Musselman wouldn't allow it. He coached every minute as if it truly meant something, stomping, hollering, checking notes in his pocket, congratulating players, barking at others for traveling or firing a pass in midair.
"Everyone accepted that we needed to play hard all the time," Miller said
"Hopefully, that's how we play all the time. We've worked pretty hard in camp. This was a chance to get away from practice and see what we could do."
http://www.sacbee.com/351/story/38964.html
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