SacBee: The odd man out on offense

Really good story by Amick. It parallels a little the discussion we're having in another thread. http://www.kingsfans.com/forums/showthread.php?t=25790

It's easy to talk about what Salmons should do, but I imagine the frustration level for him has to be really high right now. By all reports, he's a good guy but emotional. And he's been on a pretty exaggerated emotional ride most of the season. It's got to be tough being the guy on the depth chart behind the most mercurial player in the league. We joke about all of RonRon's statements, whether he's going to stay or leave, etc. But they aren't jokes to Salmons. What Artest does or doesn't do has a direct impact on Salmons' career in the NBA.

That's bad enough when it's just about performance. But this is about so much more. And after reading this article, I'm not gonna be anywhere near as tough on Salmons as I may have been in the past.

I like him. And I'm sorry that he's going through the wringer like this. Yes, he should just suck it up and play but that's much easier said than done.
 
"It's not easy," he said. "It's hard being out there and playing shorter minutes and not really getting a lot of touches."

He was getting similar minutes when Ron came back (if I remember correctly) while he came off the bench. But if it’s about touches then I guess it’s a different story. I want to know how many plays Reggie makes for Ron, John, Kevin, Francisco (each player their own amount of touches)? Also, when I pay attention to John I noticed that he doesn’t move without the ball, so if he did and he was open I’m sure the ball would drop his way.

"I worry more about John than anybody because he's hard to read," Theus said. "He's a guy who wears his emotions. You can see his emotions on his body. … But one thing he has to understand, whether he's playing 35 minutes or 25 minutes, he should play as hard as he can no matter what the situation is. I think he gets a little bit down, and it has an effect on him sometimes. I don't know if he realizes how much we appreciate his effort. (What's happening now) does not take away from what he has accomplished."

Is Reggie indicating that John sometimes doesn’t play up to his capability? Apparently the minutes also have an effect on his game (mentally/emotionally).

If I'm not part of the offense, then …

This goes back to my first question. How many plays are drawn up for each person on the team?
 
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