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April 24, 2008

Artest undergoes surgery

Kings small forward Ron Artest underwent surgery to repair a torn ligament in his left thumb on Thursday, the team has announced.
Artest, who missed five games due to the injury in the final two weeks of the season, had the procedure done by Dr. Michelle Carlson at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York. Artest will wear a removable splint for six weeks and return to full strength in approximately eight to 10 weeks.
Artest, who has until late June to exercise the early termination option in his contract and become a free agent on July 1, has been through this before. He had the same ligament repaired on Feb. 19, 2004 while playing with Indiana and returned after missing just five games. - Sam Amick

Posted by samick at 04:27 PM | Comments |

Offseason goings on

Chuck Person was among the many items on my "things to watch" list for the Kings this offseason.
Apparently, he's on Donnie Walsh's list too.
The Kings assistant is reportedly being discussed as a potential part of the post-Isiah Thomas era in New York, where his longtime friend and new Knicks' basketball president is considering head coaching candidates to replace Zeke. Person is a head coaching candidate, but he could wind up on staff in a different capacity as well. For a quick review, Person has strong ties to Walsh from their Indiana days.
Person – who played six of his 13 seasons in Indiana – was hired as a Pacers special assistant in 2002. He split his time between conducting individual workouts with players and assisting Walsh, then the Pacers CEO, and team president Larry Bird in the front office before becoming an assistant. Last summer, Person interviewed for the head job that went to Jim O'Brien. He has a two-year contract with the Kings, although it's safe to say - in my estimation - that they wouldn't hesitate to give permission for Person to talk to Walsh.
Whether it's the subtraction of Person or a separate addition, there could very well be a new look on the coaching staff by next season. To review, this was Kings co-owner Joe Maloof speaking on March 30 about the organization's desire to bring in a big man's coach...

Maloof on the desire to bring in a big man's coach this summer to develop the young big men...

"What Gavin (Maloof) and I want to do and (Kings basketball president) Geoff (Petrie) is to try to bring a big man’s coach to help Spencer (Hawes) and Shelden (Williams). We’ve got to see what Shelden can do too. We’ve got a lot of hope for Shelden as well. But it’s hard for a first-year coach to get a grasp of what he needs to do as far as playing the vets and the young guys. It’s a tough situation for any coach.
"We need some help in the coaching area as far as our big men. We really need that to strengthen that part of our coaching staff. That’s what I think will be our first priority (in the offseason). When you have a 19-year-old kid who's seven foot and still growing, and you’ve got great vets like Brad (Miller) and Mikki (Moore) and a young kid like Shelden. There’s some talent there, but I think a big man’s coach who can really develop those two young players could really help."

And for sheer viewing pleasure, we have this...

THERE CAN ONLY BE ONE (PRESIDENT)

It's been a good run of ads from the NBA in recent months, from the successful and fitting "Where Amazing Happens" commercials to the latest "There Can Only Be One" spots.
And as league exposure goes, it doesn't get much better than having your concept picked up by Time magazine and applied to the neck-and-neck race for the Democratic nomination in the presidential race...

Below is one of the many spots, but I noticed something different about this particular one with Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant. Watch Bryant's eyebrow at the end of the clip, and tell me that's not an intentional impersonation of Shaq. The big man has been doing that eyebrow raise for years as part of his comedic shtick, and Bryant is more than witty enough to have actually put some thought into mocking his old teammate and rival.

BIBBY TAKES A BEATING

As if shooting 4 of 17 in two playoff games against Boston isn't bad enough, Atlanta point guard/former King Mike Bibby took a beating for his crazy comments in regards to the Celtics fans.
Amid all the attention paid to the matter, though, this story caught my eye more than most. Read it first, but there's a Kendrick Perkins element there that actually dates back to Bibby's final days with the Kings. In a Dec. 26 loss at Arco Arena, Perkins was the talk of the Kings locker room for the way in which he talked trash all night. The general consensus: he was an average player who suddenly chirped like an All-Star because he was surrounded by future Hall of Famers. I remember Kevin Martin making a comment to the folks on press row about how they found it laughable, a sentiment that was apparently shared by Bibby. - Sam Amick

Posted by samick at 10:29 AM | Comments |

April 22, 2008

Starting over again...

The positive ending to the Kings' season shouldn't be tainted by the recent theatre. And in attempt to look ahead, here's a list of what's to come as it relates to the Kings...

April 27 NBA Early Entry Eligibility Deadline, 11:59 p.m. ET
May 20 NBA Draft Lottery
May 27-30 NBA Pre-Draft Camp (Orlando, Florida)
June 16 NBA Draft Early Entry Entrant Withdrawal Deadline
June 26 NBA Draft (WaMu Theater at Madison Square Garden, New York, NY)
July 1 NBA Teams may begin negotiating with free agents
July 9 NBA Teams may begin signing free agents
July 11-20 Las Vegas Summer League - Sam Amick

Posted by samick at 01:32 PM | Comments |

Sanity restored, in the end, by Marty Mac

Make that two newspaper writers now who have advised Kings coach Reggie Theus to stop talking while he was....really far behind.
Hopefully Marty Mac's column restores the sanity once and for all, since Jim Crandell's radio show on Saturday clearly did not. (Crandell-Amick-Theus Interview Part Iand Part II)
Theus has been doing a much more entertaining type of talking on ESPN as a guest analyst for "NBA 2Night" as well as some ESPN radio work. The former TNT and Lakers commentator already has one show in the books with the Worldwide Leader and is supposed to be on the next couple of nights. On its own, I'd say it's a good thing for the Kings franchise, since their national relevance continues to plummet and Theus can remind the masses that they exist while resting easy that there will be no Kevin Martin questions.

* Martin's hometown paper in Zanesville, Ohio has been weighing in on this whole matter from a distance. Story No. 1 has additional Martin comments made to writer Sam Blackburn, and story No. 2 is a column.

* In my Lakers piece on Sunday, the heavy focus was on how Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak saw his team's season that went from chaos to championship hopes. On Monday, Kobe Bryant weighed in on how he saw the history that's still in the making.

* Speaking of Kings folks who can't stay out of headlines, Ron Artest is his funny self in this Rocky Mountain News column. The writer ran into him at LAX coming back from the Lakers-Nuggets game and got him chatting about the deal with Denver that didn't go down.

* A Bee poll from a couple of days ago gave some Kings fans a chance to weigh in on the question of who should be winning games late.

Who would you want to take the last shot with a Kings' game on the line?
Ron Artest, 13 percent
Kevin Martin, 87 percent
Total Votes: 196

* And to end all of this for good by starting with the beginning, this whole thing could have been avoided if not for this interview that left tire tracks on my head and was the worst example of in-house media spin control/slandering I've ever heard between Theus and Grant Napear. -Sam Amick

Posted by samick at 09:45 AM | Comments |

April 21, 2008

The NBA (playoffs): Where amazing happens

As much as you see in an NBA game when sitting courtside, it's amazing how much you miss at the same time.
If only they had DVRs for live action.
So after a weekend of watching from my couch with the advantage of the HD bird's eye view combined with the ability to pause and rewind, I weighed in on the wild weekend in this story.

BLOG UPDATE: I'm getting roasted for picking Shaq as the 'Defensive Player of the (Games 1)! Oh well, I'm sticking by it. Yes, Duncan killed, but I still like the way Shaq played in the paint.

LOOKING AHEAD IN THE POSTSEASON

* LeBron's coach wants more calls in the Cleveland-Washington series.

* Former Kings coaching candidate and Boston assistant Tom Thibodeau will be juggling a long postseason run with more head coaching opportunities. This guy was already considered a defensive-coaching guru before helping the Celtics go from near worst to first in the league on that end of the floor.
His team rolled over Atlanta in Game 1, where Mike Bibby struggled badly in his return to the postseason stage on which he made much of his name.

* For the lede alone, let Chris Tomasson of the Rocky Mountain News recap the Nuggets' loss to the Lakers for you.

* Ron Artest enjoyed the Lakers game while sitting courtside at Staples.

* The Suns are cranky after blowing it in San Antonio on Saturday. We'll see tomorrow if their edginess can give them an edge.

* I've been a Reggie Evans fan ever since the Sonics beat the Kings in the playoffs in 2005. Now helping Philadelphia move closer to an upset over Detroit, he's still a one-man ugly win every night.

* Paul has Dallas reeling big-time in the Big Easy.

* The Dwight Howard era has officially begun now, by way of his first career playoff win. Geesh, big man, what took so long? You're already 22!

* Rick Adelman says his Houston Rockets are better than their Game 1 loss to Utah. - Sam Amick

Posted by samick at 10:58 AM | Comments |

April 19, 2008

Shaw happy with fate

Brian Shaw was the next Kings coach.
Not officially. Not enough to report it in the newspaper. Not even enough to throw it up on ye' old blog. But just enough that when word of Reggie Theus landing the job last June began to spread, it came as quite a surprise to me. There were strong indications from within the organization that Shaw was the one with pole position, only to be passed late by Theus in a development that some tied to his old pal Jerry Tarkanian.
But Shaw is doing just fine, having returned to his Lakers assistant job and about to begin a playoff run on Sunday with Kobe & Co. And while Shaw may not have gotten the Kings job, he did receive a Christmas card from Kings basketball president Geoff Petrie during the holidays. Petrie, who was said to be a huge fan of Shaw's during the interview process, apparently remains so.
"I felt pretty good about the way I interviewed and the way I was received," Shaw told me in Los Angeles on Monday. "I think (his not getting the job) was more the Maloofs and their relationship with Reggie Theus. He played for the Kings, has a connection to Las Vegas and they’re in Vegas. He was at New Mexico State; their business started in New Mexico. So you know, it was a valuable experience. I’m happy for Reggie. I think he did a good job this year."
The 42-year-old Shaw, meanwhile, went back to waiting his turn in the head coaching line while holding one of the most coveted assistant jobs in the league.
"Had it worked out, it would’ve been great," he said. "I would’ve been one of those young guys who was gaining experience on a game by game basis.
"At the same time, when it didn’t work out, I come back here and I’m still learning from one of the best in Phil Jackson and all the experience we have on our staff – (assistants) Frank Hamblen, Jim Cleamons, Tex Winter, Kurt Rambis – all guys who have won championships as players or multiple championships as coaches." - Sam Amick

Posted by samick at 10:30 PM | Comments |

Jim Crandell restores the sanity

Per Friday's radio saga, I'll be going on with Fox 40's Jim Crandell at 11:20 a.m. to discuss the matter on 1140 AM. Crandell, as always, will bring a welcome dose of level-headedness and anti-spin that I just couldn't seem to find on the airwaves yesterday afternoon. There's an added bonus, too. Crandell actually listened to the entire post-mortem media session on Wednesday where this all began. In person! Tune in... - Sam Amick

Posted by samick at 09:40 AM | Comments |

April 18, 2008

LOL

So Kevin Martin read the paper on Thursday, and this was his reaction as printed in Friday's editions.
"I cleared my mind, and I just laughed," Martin said by phone.
Hmmm. I know the feeling.
That was me after hearing today's local sports radio show in the afternoon in which the local pro basketball coach went along with the red-headed host who claimed this beat writer had taken him out of context in this story that led to this story.
As cliche' approaches to attacking print media folks go, that's a good one when said interview can only be found on the paper that refuses no ink. But apparently said radio host who did not attend this media session didn't notice that the interview in its entirety has been available online for two days now. So for those like him who missed it, we present - once again - 28 minutes of raw and uncut context...

- Sam Amick

Posted by samick at 10:31 PM | Comments |

Martin fires back; Grades are in

A few quick notes to provide context to today's continuing end-of-season coverage...

* In regards to Kevin Martin's reaction to his coach's comments on Wednesday, let it be known that there was no searching for a story taking place. It's always easy for fans to assume we're all a bunch of muckrakers, but there was no "mucking it up," as Theus likes to say, in this case.
Also, after a text message led to a phone call, Martin was adamant that this had nothing to do with Theus' assessment of Ron Artest as the team's best player.
"It's not even about being the best player," Martin said. "That's not even it. Some people will say me, some will say him because that's how it is, but that's not it."
As a footnote, Martin's list of player comparisons to himself was shorter than Theus' in relation to Artest. While the coach invoked the names of Tracy McGrady, Dirk Nowitzki, Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan in terms of Artest being the closest the Kings have to that type of guy, Martin called himself a "two guard who can score in many ways like a D-Wade (Miami's Dwyane Wade), like a Tracy (McGrady)," and who "takes the (other) team's best defender every night when they're trying to stop you."

* Tom Ziller of Sactownroyalty dug up quite a little nugget regarding Martin's ability to draw fouls as a slasher and hit the long bomb. I had the Elias Sports Bureau verify it for accuracy, just to be extra sure...

This season, Kevin Martin got 9.5 FTAs per game (#5 in the league). He also took 4.4 3PAs per game, and scored on 40.2% of those. That's good diversity. (<-- Understatement.)

How many players have ever averaged at least 8 FTAs per game and shot at least 40% from three (taking at least 1 three per game)? Two. Kevin Martin and Michael Jordan.

And as it turns out, Bee research shows the stat goes a bit further. Forget about free throws attempted: This season, Martin became the first player in NBA history to make at least eight free throws per game while shooting at least 40 percent from three-point range.

* Lastly, any claims that I went soft on the report card will be met with an admission that my standards were drastically lower this season and the marks reflected that. From the front office on down, they were all the benefactors of the downgraded expectations. Let us not forget, it has very quickly gone from a climate in which the fans yearned for the playoffs to a reality in which simply playing hard every night seemed to be enough. - Sam Amick

Posted by samick at 02:26 AM | Comments |

April 17, 2008

Awards ballot revealed

My picks are in. Feel free to pick 'em apart in the comments section...

Most Valuable Player

1. Kobe Bryant, Lakers
2. Chris Paul, New Orleans
3. Kevin Garnett, Boston
4. LeBron James, Cleveland
5. Manu Ginobili, San Antonio

Explanation: Bryant made it easy by winning the West, because Paul's season was nothing short of tremendous and the Hornets' season was even more special because no one saw it coming.
But after years of being considered the best player on the planet by almost all of his peers, Bryant finally gets the nod because he won. He was his sensational self on both ends almost from beginning to end, continuing to dominate while working wonderfully with Pau Gasol after the trade and focusing heavily on helping the role players with their roles. And when the award was in the balance, the Lakers were winning eight of nine down the stretch (including Bryant outplaying Paul on April 11) while the Hornets lost four of their last six. In truth, New Orleans lost the West and Paul the MVP at Arco Arena last Saturday, when Paul followed his faceoff with the Lakers with an inexcusable loss and a 4 of 13 shooting night against the Kings. I had this going to LeBron at the halfway point, but there just isn't enough number-crunching in this stat-driven world that can convince me fourth place in the East deserves the brass.

Rookie of the Year

1. Kevin Durant, Seattle
2. Al Horford, Atlanta
3. Luis Scola, Houston

Explanation: Durant nearly blew the award when he continued to get more and more unconscious with his shot selection, but he had a strong second half while showing an unreal ability to score at the next level upon arrival.

Coach of the Year

1. Rick Adelman, Houston
2. Byron Scott, New Orleans
3. Phil Jackson, Lakers

Explanation: A trusted former NBA coach told me the Rockets' talent beyond the two superstars was perhaps the worst among the Western Conference playoff teams, and there they were finishing two games away from the Western Conference crown. They not only reeled off a 22-game winning streak was second longest all time, they won 10 of those games without Yao Ming after his season-ending injury while finishing 19-7 without him overall.

Defensive Player of the Year

1. Kevin Garnett, Boston
2. Shane Battier, Houston
3. Marcus Camby, Denver

Explanation: With the way Bryant and Paul were putting up MVP-type campaigns, I could never buy into the logic of KG taking home that trophy. But since it was his defensive presence that sparked the league's biggest turnaround in history and had the Celtics as the second-best defense in the league, this is a no-brainer in my book. Garnett changed the culture in Boston and was a spiritual leader in every way.

All-NBA First team

F LeBron James
F Kevin Garnett
C Dwight Howard
G Chris Paul
G Kobe Bryant

All-NBA Second team

F Carlos Boozer
F Dirk Nowitzki
C Amare Stoudemire
G Manu Ginobili
G Deron Williams

All-NBA Third team

F Carmelo Anthony
F Paul Pierce
C Tim Duncan
G Tracy McGrady
G Steve Nash.

Explanation: In a round-a-bout way, insisting that Anthony was given a spot meant moving Duncan to atypical third-team territory. Which was just fine by me, considering the Spurs are hardly looking like the belle of this ball and Duncan wasn't nearly as dominant as in the past and he struggled often in recent weeks.

Sixth Man of the Year

1. Manu Ginobili, San Antonio
2. Leandro Barbosa, Phoenix
3. J.R. Smith , Denver

Explanation: Ginobili wins this one going away, Barbosa is an obvious second and Smith is one of the main reasons the Nuggets played well late and grabbed the eighth seed in the West.

Most Improved Player

1. Hedo Turkoglu, Orlando
2. Mike Dunleavy, Indiana
3. LaMarcus Aldridge, Portland

Explanation: The league ballot says this award should go to an up-and-comer, but the guideline seems more directed toward ensuring the title doesn't go to a 'Comeback Player of the Year' type than it does keeping a Turkoglu-type from winning it. Eight seasons in, the former Kings draft pick had the ball in his hands like never before (thank you, Stan Van Gundy) and was the benefactor of playing alongside Howard and Rashard Lewis. Still, he set career highs in scoring (19.5 points per game - 6.2 points-per-game increase from last season), field goal percentage (45.6), rebounds per game (5.7), and assists per game (five) for a team that finished 52-30.

Posted by samick at 11:47 PM | Comments |

April 16, 2008

Theus speaks on season (audio file)

Courtesy of our online gurus from today's post-mortem media session at the Kings practice facility, we bring you Kings coach Reggie Theus. The raw audio file is approximately 28 minutes (Hit play button). We should have a video segment soon as well...

-Sam Amick

Posted by samick at 04:36 PM | Comments |

The end is here, with some reason for cheer

Last night established two truths in my mind: Kobe Bryant is the MVP, and the Kings deserve plenty of kudos.
I went digging through the old blog archive (on the right side of the page if you ever want to look back) to pull out this tidbit from an Oct. 13 post...

* CBSSports.com's Tony Mejia has the Kings winning 26 games this season, while ESPN's John Hollinger sets the mark at 27 (Insider only article). All of which proves (Kings coach Reggie) Theus has a very real chance to overachieve here.

And that was with the presumption of relative health, or at least something short of the ailments that led to 17 starting lineups. That was before Mike Bibby was gone, before Theus would be asked to coach 21 players by the time it was all over. To be truthful, though, I thought the predictions like those above were insane all along.
If they had stayed healthy, I actually saw this team sneaking into the playoffs. The reason was pretty simple: too many guys with plenty to play for. Brad Miller needed to rebound from his disastrous season, Ron Artest needed to continue repairing his reputation on and off the floor, Kevin Martin needed to show he was worth his huge extension, Mikki Moore needed to show he wasn't an overpaid pickup, and Bibby needed to remind the league that he could play as he approached free agency. And after they spent so much of the 2006-07 season trying to accomplish individual goals and losing sight of the team objective, it seemed reasonable to think they would try the collective approach this time around.
It didn't work out quite like that, but this was some other version of success. In any normal season, the Kings would have been in playoff contention almost until the end. Remember this from a Feb. 4 post? The last 15 No. 8 seeds in the West...

2006-07: Golden State, 42-40
2005-06: Kings, 44-38
2004-05: Memphis, 45-37
2003-04: Denver, 43-39
2002-03: Phoenix, 44-38
2001-02: Utah, 44-38
2000-01: Minnesota, 47-35
1999-00: Kings, 44-38
1998-99: Seattle, 25-25
1997-98: Houston 41-41
1996-97: Clippers, 36-46 (three teams under .500 made it)
1995-96: Kings, 39-43
1994-95: Denver, 41-41
1993-94: Denver, 42-40
1992-93: Lakers, 39-43

What's more, the most hopeful of fans could easily fall back on the argument of how things could have been different if a few of the 'should have won' games went the other way. In all, they had 12 losses to sub .500 teams - with seven of those coming against the lowly Clippers (three times), Memphis (twice), and Minnesota (twice).

VOTING BALLOT UP NEXT

I'll be back tomorrow to reveal my awards voting ballot that is due to the league on Thursday, so head back for that. - Sam Amick

Posted by samick at 08:54 AM | Comments |

April 14, 2008

Super Kobe

LOS ANGELES - Of course he could have done it.
Kobe Bryant can do almost anything he puts his mind to when it comes to physical feats, but the notion that he would actually jump over a speeding Aston Martin just to grow Nike's brand is about as believable as the idea that Barack Obama is a good bowler. Nonetheless, it's a great spot that fooled millions of fans.
At Lakers practice today, my local sources confirmed that the commercial was fake. The jump is real, having taken place on the rooftop of the Los Angeles athletic club. But the car wasn't even on site, to be added later by way of computer mumbo jumbo. No, Kobe has way to much to lose by messing around with car hopping, from the MVP he's about to win to the West crown that is only one game away and a possible return to the top of the league. Such a stunt would be insane in every way...

- Sam Amick

Posted by samick at 07:51 PM | Comments |

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