Amanjoy
Bench
For the past couple of years, the Kings have had great players at the end of their bench that have potential to be stars, but haven't gotten the opportunity. Gerald Wallace was one...but he got stuck on a team that was stacked at his position...bad luck there I guess. Now he's great for the Bobcats. Luckily Kevin MArtin is still with us and is now developing into a star. I think the next guy to emerge is Ronnie PRice.
My beef with Adelman was that he never varied from his routine. He always stuck with the same old thing, and it was great most of the time, but sometimes you gotta shake things up in order to be successful in certain situations. Adelman never gave the opportunity for guys like Wallace, Martin, or Price to shine. He only did it when he was forced to. WAllace never got a look unless Hedo or Peja was hurt. Martin wouldn've still been riding the bench had Bonzi not gotten hurt, and Price would have never seen more than a minute of each game had it not been for an injury plagued game against Dallas in December. With Peja out, the Kings were in desperate need of some sort of lift, and it didn't happen until Ronnie Price came in the game in the 2nd qtr. The guy came in and changed the tone of the game with his speed, quickness, defense and outside shot. He showed absolutely no fear against Jason Terry, and took it right at the Mavs. The Kings had an 8 point lead with about 5 mintues or so to go when all of a sudden, Adelman decides to pull Price and KT out in favor of Bibby and Shareef, and Terry & Dirk proceed to pick n roll the Kings to death and Dirk scores 10 pts in the last 5 minutes, and the Mavs go on to win. That pick n roll combo and the Dirk isolation on the block was not working with Price and KT in there, and as soon as those 2 went out, it all of a sudden became unstoppable.
My point is this: STICK WITH WHAT IS WORKING AT THE MOMENT. Great coaches such as Popovich and Avery Johnson and Phil Jackson will be willing to sit down a star, or anyone else for that matter, in favor of the player that is playing better. Price many times I feel played better in 1 minute than Hart played in 6. Give the guy a chance. He showed he's fearless and he can play D against a top quality guard. Give the guy an opporuntiy to shine in the regular season on a regular basis and it will pay off in the end the way the Devon HArris experiment is now paying off against Tony PArker in the DAL/SA series.
Now, I wasn't a fan of Jason HArt all season until he did a decent job guarding Tony Parker in the limited action he got against him. But, let's face it, the boy's got little to no offense unless he drives to the basket. His jumper is rediculously erratic.
For that reason, I propose that Ronnie Price be given the chance to be the backup PG next year. I know he's unproven and went undrafted as a rookie, but anyone who watched the Kings blowouts this year and one injury plagued game against Dallas saw that this kid has potential to be (in my opinion) the reincarnation of Bobby Jackson. The boy is athletic, can play solid defense, and isn't afraid to shoot the ball when he's open. Devon Harris was well-known, and unproven when he came out, but now he's everywhere for the MAvs in their series with the Spurs. I can't remember him having a single standout game this year until the playoffs, but Avery Johnson stuck with him and gave him the opportunity to back up Jason Terry. He helped the kid through tough times and bad games and didn't keep him on a short leash. Now Johnson's patience is paying dividends as the Mavs have a 2-1 lead and Parker is being forced to work on the offensive and defensive ends of the floor.
My point is that given the opportunity, I think Ronnie Price can be the same type of player. I go to school near UVSC where Price went to school and watched the guy play on a number of occasions, and I said from Day 1 that if he ever made it with an NBA team, he'd be another Bobby JAckson type player. The problem right now is that the former coaching staff never gave the kid an opportunity to shine this season. Harris got the opportunity from Day 1, and now he has the confidence...Price got no such luck this year. Granted, Harris has a year's experience on Price, but that experience was on the court...never at the end of the bench. I'm certain that if he gets the same kind of opportunity to be the #2 guy behind Bibby and even play side by side with Bibby on occasion, that Price will develop into a star in this league. I just pray the new coaching staff sees the same thing and gives this kid a long and hard look this upcoming season at PG. Price has got Hart's D with a better offensive game and more athleticism. Give him extended minutes and watch what happens.
My beef with Adelman was that he never varied from his routine. He always stuck with the same old thing, and it was great most of the time, but sometimes you gotta shake things up in order to be successful in certain situations. Adelman never gave the opportunity for guys like Wallace, Martin, or Price to shine. He only did it when he was forced to. WAllace never got a look unless Hedo or Peja was hurt. Martin wouldn've still been riding the bench had Bonzi not gotten hurt, and Price would have never seen more than a minute of each game had it not been for an injury plagued game against Dallas in December. With Peja out, the Kings were in desperate need of some sort of lift, and it didn't happen until Ronnie Price came in the game in the 2nd qtr. The guy came in and changed the tone of the game with his speed, quickness, defense and outside shot. He showed absolutely no fear against Jason Terry, and took it right at the Mavs. The Kings had an 8 point lead with about 5 mintues or so to go when all of a sudden, Adelman decides to pull Price and KT out in favor of Bibby and Shareef, and Terry & Dirk proceed to pick n roll the Kings to death and Dirk scores 10 pts in the last 5 minutes, and the Mavs go on to win. That pick n roll combo and the Dirk isolation on the block was not working with Price and KT in there, and as soon as those 2 went out, it all of a sudden became unstoppable.
My point is this: STICK WITH WHAT IS WORKING AT THE MOMENT. Great coaches such as Popovich and Avery Johnson and Phil Jackson will be willing to sit down a star, or anyone else for that matter, in favor of the player that is playing better. Price many times I feel played better in 1 minute than Hart played in 6. Give the guy a chance. He showed he's fearless and he can play D against a top quality guard. Give the guy an opporuntiy to shine in the regular season on a regular basis and it will pay off in the end the way the Devon HArris experiment is now paying off against Tony PArker in the DAL/SA series.
Now, I wasn't a fan of Jason HArt all season until he did a decent job guarding Tony Parker in the limited action he got against him. But, let's face it, the boy's got little to no offense unless he drives to the basket. His jumper is rediculously erratic.
For that reason, I propose that Ronnie Price be given the chance to be the backup PG next year. I know he's unproven and went undrafted as a rookie, but anyone who watched the Kings blowouts this year and one injury plagued game against Dallas saw that this kid has potential to be (in my opinion) the reincarnation of Bobby Jackson. The boy is athletic, can play solid defense, and isn't afraid to shoot the ball when he's open. Devon Harris was well-known, and unproven when he came out, but now he's everywhere for the MAvs in their series with the Spurs. I can't remember him having a single standout game this year until the playoffs, but Avery Johnson stuck with him and gave him the opportunity to back up Jason Terry. He helped the kid through tough times and bad games and didn't keep him on a short leash. Now Johnson's patience is paying dividends as the Mavs have a 2-1 lead and Parker is being forced to work on the offensive and defensive ends of the floor.
My point is that given the opportunity, I think Ronnie Price can be the same type of player. I go to school near UVSC where Price went to school and watched the guy play on a number of occasions, and I said from Day 1 that if he ever made it with an NBA team, he'd be another Bobby JAckson type player. The problem right now is that the former coaching staff never gave the kid an opportunity to shine this season. Harris got the opportunity from Day 1, and now he has the confidence...Price got no such luck this year. Granted, Harris has a year's experience on Price, but that experience was on the court...never at the end of the bench. I'm certain that if he gets the same kind of opportunity to be the #2 guy behind Bibby and even play side by side with Bibby on occasion, that Price will develop into a star in this league. I just pray the new coaching staff sees the same thing and gives this kid a long and hard look this upcoming season at PG. Price has got Hart's D with a better offensive game and more athleticism. Give him extended minutes and watch what happens.
