NBA Blog

Too Much Wade for the Lakers and Bryant

2008-12-20T02:24:00.000-08:00

Dwayne Wade stayed in the zone and brought the Heat back to snap a 3-game loosing streak. Wade had his eleventh, 30-plus point game of the season and needed it tonight.

Bryant was 12-24 with 28 points tonight, but it was not enough to allow the Lakers to get their 5^th straight win.

The game was won by the Heat because of aggressiveness and willingness to make the extra effort.

The Lakers were 10 of 19 from the free throw line. They shot a miserable 52.6%, with Bryant only getting to the line 4 times making 3 of 4. The Heat shot 17 of 24 making a decent 70.8%. Wade shot 10 of that 17 making 7 of them.

Looks like the Lakers continue to play a little better with Walton in over Radmanovic, but that is not saying much when Walton is only averaging 3 ppg this year. He does put up numbers and stats that are not listed and those are the important ones for the Lakers right now. However if they are going to win the whole enchilada they will need to be firing on all cylinders.

Despite the off night the Lakers still have the momentum and are the head of the pack in the west (21-4).

For Miami to make a run at Atlanta and Orlando they will have to get a lot more production out of Marion, Haslem, Chalmers and Anthony. They are lucky to be a .520 team at this point in the season.

If Miami can maintain this kind of hard nosed, aggressive play from their team you will see a surge by Miami in the east. The question remains, how long can Miami ride on Wade’s back? He is averaging 36.8 minutes per game and the Heat only just past the half way mark of the season.

On the flip side Bryant is also carrying the Lakers load while averaging 34.7 minutes and a team leading 25.2 ppg. With this being Bryant’s 12 year in the league he is not showing any signs of slowing down.

Hopefully both players can ride this one out for their respective teams or there will be disaster. I guess this is why Wade is making $14.4 million this year and Bryant $21.2 million. They are not the highest paid players in the league because they sit on the bench.

Sacramento Kings in Need of Veteran Leadership for Playoff Hopes

2008-12-18T21:24:00.000-08:00

When looking at the Kings' 2008-09 roster, you can only imagine what kind of damage they could do with only one or two veteran impact players. The million dollar question is always, how can we get them and what do we need to do?

How much easier would be it for Coach Theus and franchise player Kevin Martin to get their team to the playoffs with one or two experienced veterans? Although Martin has proven to be the go-to guy, he has not proven to be a team leader. It is difficult to guide a ship with a full crew to the correct destination without experience and strong leadership.

With Shareef Abdur-Rahim retiring due to reoccurring knee problems, the Kings are dependant on 10-year veteran Brad Miller, second-year center Spencer Hawes, and rookies Donte Green and Jason Thompson. Theus always has a game plan in place and excels at getting every drop of talent out of his young players. However to get into the playoffs it takes experience and leadership—which young players often lack.

Maybe the Kings should go ahead and grab free agent Bonzi Wells to join 10-year veteran Bobby Jackson, who returned to the Kings from Minnesota. Or how about adding Alonzo Mourning or P.J. Brown, both of whom are free agents? All of these players are on the decline but they do top the list of the available free agents.

The problem is the Kings have luxury tax issues. Shareef Abdur-Rahim will work as an assistant coach for the Kings probably because he has two years remaining on his contract. He will be paid $6.2 million and $6.6 million, respectively. So grabbing a couple veterans may be a difficult proposition when the team is only approximately $1.7 million below the luxury tax cap.

So what is the solution for this year? General Manager Geoff Petrie will have to allow Coach Theus to build up those young players capable of improving quickly and assisting Martin, Miller, Hawes, Salmons, Garcia, and Moore. This means allowing players to play through their mistakes and finding the right chemistry for proven players.

If no improvements are shown, Petrie should start trading because the Pacific Division has not gotten any weaker—especially when examining offseason changes throughout the division.

With last year arguably being the most competitive Western Conference playoff race in the NBA’s history, and don’t expect this year to be any different. The Kings can only hope to get maximum performance out of this years draft class and new acquisitions.

If not, prepare for another bumpy ride.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/68879-sacramento-kings-in-need-of-veteran-leadership-for-playoff-hopes

Theus Scapegoat for Kings' Lack of Talent

2008-12-18T21:04:00.000-08:00

Reggie Theus being fired makes him the third Kings head coach fired in the last four years. Sacramento Kings Coach Reggie Theus was the Kings’ 21^st coach and ended with an overall record of 44-62.

Assistant Coach Kenny Natt will fill in as the interim coach. With all of these coaching changes, you would think the Kings would begin to look at the real reason for poor team performance. When your check engine light comes on in your car, do you buy a new one before checking the engine?

With the Kings engine being talent, the coach was fired without checking the engine light. The Kings key player and leading scorer, Kevin Martin, has been injured. In addition, as mentioned in my article earlier this year, the Kings do not have any consistent leadership and the team’s young players are ineffective.

Let’s examine the Kings’ depth chart, consisting of Martin (ankle injury), Brad Miller, Beno Urdih, John Salmons, Francis Garcia, Spencer Hawes, and Mikki Moore.

Both Moore and Miller have 10 years of NBA experience, and are averaging a combined 16.3 ppg. Salmons has had a breakout year in 2007, carrying the Kings on his back with Martin out with his 19.4 ppg average. Garcia’s third year in the league has been a productive one. He is currently averaging 10.9 ppg, and did not start the season until November 28^th due to a calf injury.

Finally, Urdih’s fourth year has been impressive, as he is averaging 12.9 ppg. Rookie Spencer Hawes has been decent, averaging 12 ppg. But both players have had defensive match up deficiencies with many of the leagues more seasoned athletic players.

The new league strategy and trend in pro sports is to make the coaches scapegoats for team’s failures. Maybe they are attempting to save face, or gain respect for the fans.

In business, you can fire a CEO when the company’s profits begin plummeting. But pro sports do not work the same way. Head coaches are not always responsible for player acquisitions, trades, and draft picks.

Eddie Jordan of the Wizards was also fired on November 28^th. With the Wizards’ franchise player, Gilbert Arenas sidelined, Coach Jordan started the season 1-11. Despite Jordan’s success in his previous years, the Wizards quickly dismissed him. Where has the respect and long-term thinking gone?

One of the crazier examples of these irresponsible decisions was the firing of Avery Johnson in May of this year. After taking the Mavericks to the NBA Finals and having the highest winning percentage for a coach in franchise history, no less.

Kings fans may have seen the writing on the wall with the Maloofs grumbling openly about their disappointment over the Kings win loss record and some of the coaching methods used by Theus. Coach Theus would have liked to continue to build the Kings and stick with them through the 2009-2010 season when a substantial amount of salary cap room would open up.

The contracts of Miller ($12.25), Thomas ($8.5), Abdur-Rahim ($6.6), and Moore ($6.2) will end after the next season. This will allow Petrie to once again acquire the talent necessary to rebuild the Kings like he did in 1998 and 1999 when they signed Chris Webber and Vlade Divac.

Team owners and GM’s need to begin looking inward to find solutions. However when doing this they may discover themselves to be the problem.

The Maloofs continue to say they are letting Geoff Petrie make all basketball related decisions, but continue to openly complain and intermingle in personnel decisions.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/93476-theus-scapegoat-for-kings-lack-of-talent