Sam Amick posted the audio from Jim Crandell's show, which is a tour de force of WTF. Listen if you haven't.

Marty McNeal had the definitive column on the matter, which is all sorts of awesome considering McNeal's traditional point-of-view on such matters.

I emailed Grant Napear Saturday morning. My questions and his response follows:

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Ziller: Yesterday on your show, you accused Amick of taking comments out of context in order to write his story on Theus's thoughts on Artest. ...

1. Have you listened to the full comments?
2. Did you attend the media session?
3. Do you stand by your statement that the comments were taken out of context?
4. Did you meet with Theus before going on the air Friday to discuss how to attack the story, though you said during the show you had not?

Napear: I never mentioned Sam's name.  I never said he took the comments out of context.  Reggie made that statement. Once again you have your facts wrong!!! Why don't you call and ask Reggie?  He's the one that was quoted...not me..All I did was ask the questions.  I knew what he meant all along, but to accuse me of ripping Sam is absurd

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You can listen to Napear's interview with Theus here. Halfway through, Grant talks about Sam's article(s). You be the judge. (It's also worth mentioning that Napear -- who assails Amick for not understanding they phrase "throw the ball to" -- gets it completely wrong, per Theus's Saturday comments.)

Ugh.

Most high-scoring guards in the NBA fall into two categories: slasher or shooter. Slashers, like Dwyane Wade and LeBron James, draws tons of fouls. Shooters, like Ray Allen and Michael Redd, bomb away from long-range. Very few scorers combine the aspects of slasherdom and shooterdom well -- LeBron does shoot a bunch, but not efficiently from distance (32% career). The same goes for Kobe (34%) and Wade (26%). Redd (6.8/game) and Allen (3.2/game) draw few fouls, comparatively.

(I think you know where I'm headed with this.)

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 9 FTAs per game and shot at least 40% from three (taking at least 1 three per game)? One. Kevin Martin, this season.

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.

How many players have ever averaged at least 7 FTAs per game and shot at least 40% from three (taking at least 1 three per game)? Six. Kevin Martin, Michael Jordan, Reggie Miller, Kevin Johnson, Paul Pierce and Dirk Nowitzki.

[Martin's 2008-09 is real similar to Pierce's underrated 2001-02 season, when Pierce finished third-team All NBA and took Boston to the conference finals. Pierce shot more often and rebounded a bit better per-minute, but Martin shot much more efficiently and didn't have as many turnovers. (Pierce went 40 mpg; Martin had 36.) Paul Pierce, of course, is considered one of the most versatile offensive weapons in the world. He'll get a few low-ballot MVP votes, just as he has over his career. (Vince Carter's got a similar mix of numbers with point to a versatile offense, too.)]

But get this again: No one in the modern history of basketball who shoots so well from three has been driven to get to the line this much. Jordan, in 1995-96, shot 40% from three and averaged 8 FTAs per game. Kevin Martin shot 40% from three this year and averaged 9.5 FTAs! (In less playing time, even.)

Martin's offense isn't just at the top of this roster -- the combination of effective slashing and effective shooting is unprecedented in modern basketball history. And he still can't get the ball in crunch time? If Reggie Theus wasn't just blowin' smoke to keep Ron-Ron happy, he needs his retinas checked.

In his post-season press conference, Reggie Theus repeatedly called Ron Artest his best player, and said he's the only guy you can "throw it to" when the game's on the line.

"Down the stretch of games, what people don't really understand is that teams are throwing the ball to (Houston's) Tracy McGrady and letting him decide and figure out what's going on. They're throwing the ball to (the Los Angeles Lakers') Kobe (Bryant). They're throwing the ball to (Dallas') Dirk Nowitzki. They're throwing the ball to their best player and letting that guy get the double team and (play) out of it.

 

"Outside of Ron Artest, we don't have anyone you can throw the ball to ... . Without that guy, we're going to have to start figuring out where we're going to throw the ball."

According to 82games.com's "super clutch" numbers, which are stats earned in the 4th quarter or overtime, less than 2 minutes left, neither team leading by more than 3, Kevin Martin scored 1.29 points per possession, including FTs and TOs. In these minutes, Artest scored 0.98 points per possession (though he added a total of 4 assists in these 34 minutes of super clutch time, as well).

If you give Martin 5 possessions in "super clutch time" in a game, the stats say he will score 6.45 points. Artest will score 4.9 points, with a fraction of an assist (which by most measures/logic would be worth a fraction of a point). A point or point-and-a-half is all the difference in the world in a close game. (Artest's stunning inability to draw a foul in the clutch -- as opposed to Martin's striking knack for drawing fouls in the same circumstances -- has a ton to do with this. Ron can draw fouls, just not in crunch time.)

Because defense is hard to measure, we could "discuss" the superior player between Martin and Artest for days and days. No one would ever win the argument. But the stats show pretty clearly that Martin is the best scorer at any time, including down the stretch, and is less likely to turn the ball over. Artest has a knack for those timely threes, or sometimes a monster late dunk (hi Joakim!). But he also has a knack for forcing junk, and getting stripped. Martin has 1 turnover in all his 33 super-clutch minutes, to go with his 30 points.

You need a bucket? You give Kevin Martin the damn ball.

The damned Lakers have a way of clouding reality, don't they? As the Kings stuck with them through two quarters, I goaded myself into believing the Kings could win. The team's best three players were out. Spencer Hawes was frustrated and awful. Mikki Moore wasn't doing much. Francisco Garcia was a bit off. The team looked tired (understandable, given the fight against San Antonio the night prior). The Lakers had a full assault, and they were at home, and they were on rest.

Against most teams, I would have conceded as soon as the margin hit 10. Good fight, fine season, good night. I hung in until the margin was about 18, though. At that point, it became "watch Quincy run."

Seriously, how perfectly morbid is it that the big take-away from the season's 82nd game was a monster night from Quincy Douby, in which he carved up the opposing defense so effortlessly you almost imagined it was summer league? QD shows us something between little and nothing all year ... and then on April 15, he drops 32. I'd be mad were it not for the closing play -- penetration leading to an and-1 ... with 3.3 seconds on the game clock, down 26. Showing disrespect to the Lakers will always get you points in my book.

So there we are, that's it. "Next Game: No game scheduled," says Yahoo!. I've been ready for the end since March, but it still stings a little. As many noted in response to the most recent poll, a 38-44 season is not typically a success. More than half the mornings-after this season have resulted in something between mild annoyance and downright depression. It's all part of the fan's manifesto, and we all deal with it in our own ways. But it's not the downers which are important -- it's the moments of glee and heartfelt excitement and fluttering pride in something we truly have more than a customer-business relationship in.

The offseason means no more Kevin Martin box scores. No more Spencer Hawes dunks. No more Francisco Garcia mean faces. No more Mikki Moore screeches. No more Ron Artest flyin' fist pumps of doom. No more Beno Udrih lefty kisses off the glass. No more Brad Miller face-flattening screens in the open court. No more cheesy shots bespectacled randoms during Newman Lasik promos. No more Fat Lever or Henry Turner (or, yes, Katye Christensen). No more Jerryisms. No more... no more... no more Peaches. <sniffle>

I miss Kings basketball already. But hey! Only roughly 172 days until the first preseason game!

(As it were, if you just joined StR this season, fear not: We'll be around all summer. In fact, June has historically been our most active month. In the next few weeks, we'll eulogize this season and started looking at what the team can/will do this summer. We'll get our draft prognostication on. We'll discuss the playoffs. We'll post more pictures of Peaches turning up in foreign countries. We'll prepare for free agency, summer league, the Olympics, preseason, and of course the 2008-09 season. Hope you join us, and we thank you for being a part of the 2007-08 season with us.)