Mike Bibby has gone fishing. As has Bobby Jackson and Rick Adelman. Likewise Brian Skinner. And Darius Songaila. And for what it's worth, Kevin Ollie, Louis Amundson, Tyronn Lue and Loren Woods.

So whom do we live vicariously through? To whom do we attach our post King, post season allegiance?

Four of the eight remaining playoff teams have former Kings on their roster:

• Boston has Scot Pollard and Eddie House.
• New Orleans has Peja Stojakovic and Bonzi Wells.
• Orlando has Hedo Turkoglu and Maurice Evans.
• Utah has Ronnie Price and Jason Hart.
• Detroit, Cleveland, San Antonio and the Lakers (thank God!) boast no former Kings.

So who are you pulling for? Which of these guys do you want to see at the White House? Who do you want to see on SportsCenter this fall when they receive their championship rings on opening night? Or would you like to see all of them go home with nothin'?

Poll

I'm pulling for:

• Scott and Eddie
• Peja and Bonzi
• Hedo and Mo
• Ronnie and (ugh!) Jason
• No rings for us, no rings for them (but I'm not bitter...)

  276 votes | Results

Well, our fearless leader is gone for the next two weeks. I scoured the web looking for a concise link that would sum up how it's going to be now that I'm in charge.

Click here.

In a nutshell? This is a good time for all of you to get to work on those fanpsots and fanshots that you've been putting off, while I sit here juggling ball bearings and mumble about missing strawberries.

More to follow in a little while. Meanwhile,

Rock The Vote!

 

 

A year ago, we debated which candidates we'd like to see Geoff Petrie and the Maloofs chase. I think on the whole we liked Stan Van Gundy; many of us also endorsed Terry Porter. In the end, we might have been split evenly between Brian Shaw, Kurt Rambis, and Reggie Theus, the three finalists for the job.

Remember: Larry Brown wanted the job. Lon Kruger wanted a shot. Tom Thibodeau (this year's most highly lusted-after assistant) got an interview. Bill Cartwright, Elston Turner, and Scott Brooks were all considered.

After an overachieving season with plenty of potholes, are you happy with the choice?

Poll

Are you glad the Maloofs hired Reggie Theus?

• Yes
• No

  329 votes | Results

I know this thing is getting beaten to death, so I'll try to be brief.

This is all Reggie's fault. If you say something that is left open for interpretation, it will be interpreted in at least a couple of different ways. If Reggie meant to say that Ron is the one guy that draws a double team and can pass out of it, if he meant that Ron is the only true post player, he should have said that. To leave it to something as ambiguous as "get the ball to" leaves you open to misunderstanding. And don't blame the poor, ignorant fan for not knowing the verbiage. Kevin Martin apparently misunderstood what Reggie was trying to say, too!

An attorney, doctor, or stockbroker might use "industry speak" when speaking amongst themselves, but they utilize "layman terms" when speaking to their patients or clients. Reggie needs to adopt this in the future if he truly believes that the issue here is that he was misunderstood.

He refuses to apologize to Sam Amick after throwing him under the bus yesterday. If you listen to the entire interview you will hear that Amick did not mis-quote Theus, nor did he take him out of context. I sure hope that Theus is more contrite with Martin, but my fear is that Theus will tell Martin that this whole thing could have been avoided had Martin called Theus first, therefore this whole thing is actually Kevin's fault.

None of this changes the fact that I like Reggie Theus as a coach. But if he is going to hold his players (John Salmons, Mikki Moore, Ron Artest) accountable for their actions and their comments to the media, then so too should he be held accountable.

As I said in an earlier thread - Man up, Reggie. Own it, take responsibility for it, learn from it, and let's all move forward

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.

Please vote against Clay Bennett's relocation of the Seattle SuperSonics. The circumstances are so sleazy, and the existing questions so profound, it would behoove you (and the league) to wait for existing legal concerns to be resolved before casting your lot with these hustlers.

We fans have little representation at the league's governing table. You know we can't boycott, you know we're loathe to protest. Don't use that against us. Fans across the nation have almost unanimously squealed at the horror of Bennett's bad faith negotiations with the city/state and his merciless misrepresentation of Sonics fans.
Sacramento fans are particularly sensitive to the specter of a relocation (as you might understand). When shrouded in such evidence of malfeasance (or at least mal intentions), it's clear why we'd be united with Sonics fans on this matter.

It makes no economic sense. It makes no practical sense. It makes ... no sense. At least consider withholding a vote tomorrow at the Board of Governors meeting; tell Bennett and the commissioner you aren't OK with how this went down. Mark Cuban has said he will vote against the application. Join him. It's the right thing to do for fans of the NBA.

Poll

Should the Maloofs vote against Clay Bennett's Sonics relocation application?

• Yes
• No

  673 votes | Results

All box-score statistics per 36 minutes. 50 RandyBucks for this one.

There's been some debate since Saturday's win over Denver, and with tonight's game at Golden State looming: Which team would you rather see in the playoffs?

The crimes against Denver: They deserve punishment for not giving up Linas Kleiza for Ron Artest at the deadline.

The crimes against Golden State: Local rival; Stephen Jackson got all "scoreboard" on Reggie Theus because coach took a late timeout in a Kings blowout win to get his starters out of the game; revenge for Monta Ellis's MIP robbery of Kevin Martin still required.

To me, it's no contest. I'm willing to listen to arguments, though. Poll on the right.

One hundred years hour in solitude has begotten the latest Intriguing Career Similarity. A correct guess earns you 25 Randy Nickels (which equals 5 Rifleman Dollars or 1 ReggieBuck, f&$#ing inflation).

Pt36 is points per 36 minutes; Reb% is total rebounding percentage (or percentage of total available rebounds while player was on floor which were collected by said player), Blk% is block percentage (or percentage of opponent shots blocked by said player when said player was on court), Usg is usage rate (or percentage of team possessions used -- by shot, turnover, or FTs -- while said player was on floor).

Player A is a somewhat better shotblocker; Player B is the better (and more willing) scorer. Otherwise, quite similar at this age -- Player B has no modern-era player more similar at this age.

Hint: I was surprised by the ceiling of Player A's career Reb% numbers, considering Player A's eternal reputation.

(Note: There were previous quizzes of this sort, only they were not given ridiculous brands and are thus lost to outer space.)