One night removed from a beautiful offensive performance, what do the Kings do?
3rd Quarter
11:22 - Mike Bibby, missed deep three.
10:44 - Ron Artest, layup off Mike Bibby assist.
10:07 - Kevin Martin, missed jumper.
9:51 - Kevin Martin, missed deep three.
9:23 - Ron Artest, missed jumper.
9:03 - Mike Bibby three after Kenny Thomas' layup is blocked.
8:30 - Kenny Thomas, missed jumper.
7:54 - Brad Miller, missed jumper.
7:16 - Brad Miller putback off missed Mike Bibby three.
6:48 - Mike Bibby, made jumper, Kenny Thomas assist.
6:20 - Mike Bibby, missed jumper.
6:01 - Brad Miller, turnover.
5:45 - Kevin Martin, made three in transition.
4:58 - Brad Miller, missed jumper.
4:18 - Ron Artest, layup blocked by Steven Hunter.
3:50 - Francisco Garcia, missed jumper.
3:13 - Francisco Garcia, missed three after missed Mike Bibby jumper.
2:36 - Kenny Thomas, missed jumper.
2:12 - John Salmons, turnover.
1:40 - Brad Miller layup, Kenny Thomas assist.
0:59 - Brad Miller short jumper, Kenny Thomas assist.
0:36 - Brad Miller draws a foul, hits both.
0:02 - Brad Miller, misses three.
TOTALS FOR 3RD QUARTER: 18 points in 24 possessions, for an offensive rating of 75.
Yes, against Indiana - a team who is #9 in the league in defensive efficiency - the Kings had a third-quarter offensive rating of 154. The very next night, against Philadelphia - a team who is #19 in the league in defensive efficiency - the Kings had a third-quarter offensive rating of 75.
Ugh.
What was the difference? It's painfully obvious - it's Kevin Martin. Sunday night in Indiana, he had the keys to the offense. It was almost as if Eric Musselman said before that game, "Hey Kevin, the offense is yours. Take 20 shots, take 30 shots, hell take every shot you can. It's all yours."
Guess what? He nearly did. He took 23 shots and got 23 free throw attempts. Those 23 FTAs are roughly the equivalent of 10 extra shots. So, essentially, Martin took about 33 shots Sunday night. He wasn't lighting the world on fire - 8-23 from the floor, 35 percent. But he did it. And the Kings' offense? F*cking glorious. A top three performance for the season. Why? Because ordinary offensive Kevin Martin is loads better than ordinary offensive Mike Bibby, ordinary offensive Ron Artest, ordinary offensive Kenny Thomas, and ordinary offensive Brad Miller. In fact, there's like 10 players in the league who are performing better than Kevin Martin on the offensive end. None of them reside in Sacramento.
So what do we get Monday night? The ball is taken out of Martin's hands, which nearly kills one of his biggest assets - foul-drawing. Martin gets 15 shots and 5 FTAs, scores a highly efficient 23 points off that, and the Kings get smoked. In the pivotal third quarter itself - Martin had three shots and no FTAs.
How big does the f*cking neon sign need to be? Seriously, tell me how big and I'll build it. This is f*cking ridiculous.