It seems that just about every time Ron gets it in his head that the team must respond, he takes it upon himself to drive into the lane regardless of whether there are two, three, or even four defenders.  While he's been great beating single and even double coverage on the post and unhesitatingly nailing midrange/three-point jumpers, the point-guard imitation is killing the team.  He invariably either tosses up an absurd shot (hoping to draw a foul) or he simply turns the ball over.  

Not only does this waste a possession, but his teammates seem to queue into the fact that Ron is going into dribble-drive mode and react with their own selfishness.  They know that ball movement will ultimately result in Ron charging recklessly into the lane so they elect not to pass and suddenly began jacking up illadvised jump-shots of their own.  After three or four iterations of this, we usually get Grant or Jerry commenting on how ball movement has suddenly broken down, but never any reference to the culprit.  

Futhermore, who does this activity hurt the most?  Why Kevin Martin of course.  He more so than any other King relies upon the ability of his teammates (read: Brad and Beno) to find him as he cuts to get open.  This requires teammates to be actively looking to pass the ball in order to find the open man.  

Why has Kevin suffered lately?  Since Ron became Theus' number one option, he's stopped running and cutting because he's recognized that it's futile.  He can run around all day, but the only time Ron looks to pass is once he's completed boxed in.  At this point, he teammates are rarely in a position to receive the ball effectively and more often than not quickly return that ball to Ron as the floor has become unbalanced.  Yet because Ron's been mixing this activity with outstanding post play, much better timing from long range, and stellar one-on-one defense, the way he shoots his team in the foot seems to be going unnoticed.  

Certainly, Theus must notice, but I'm starting to suspect that he'd rather appease Ron for the remaining twenty-odd games with the hope that he'll simply disappear after the season so he  won't ever really have to confront Ron.  

So far as I'm concerned, I absolutely loved watching the early Beno, Martin, Salmons, Moore, Miller lineups.  It was a small glimpse between injuries, but this was the lineup that beat Dallas.  Granted, Dallas has changed with Kidd at the point, but I refuse to believe that improved offensive efficiency at the three couldn't have made up for a drop off on defense at the same position.  

Ultimately however, what this team will need is an offensive and defensive upgrade at the four.  If we can obtain such a player before Brad's play declines severely (barring the accelerated development of Hawes), we'd be just fine without Ron.  Besides, we're not getting any takers for Thomas' contract, so we're stuck with his and Miller's contracts for two more years.  We should use this time to develop young bigs and build chemistry between our backcourt.  

I just pray that I won't have to watch Ron passive-aggressively sabotage this team for a season longer.  He's saying nice things in the media, but he's poison to his coaches and teammates.  Let him be someone else's problem.  Let him know that he wouldn't be welcome to not exercise his option.