NOTE: This is the first-ever edition of Pick & Droll, a weekly column devoted to the Sacramento Kings and the NBA, and available exclusively on The Sac Rag. Enjoy.
Now that Monarchs fever has subsided (hey, my temperature rose 0.2 degrees Fahrenheit!), the Kings are again the sporting focus of Sacramento. Training camp opens this week, which means opening day is but around the corner.
This squad is a largely unfamiliar team – only the nucleus of Brad Miller, Peja Stojakovic and Mike Bibby remain from last summer. The three players we got for Chris Webber are all still around, and three new rotation players have been added, as well.
So what are the biggest questions heading into the season?
(Column continued in extended entry.)
Brad Miller: In this era of power-forwards-masquerading-as-centers, none are better at it than Big Brad. He’s the best shooting big in the league not named Dirk, and is easily the Most Valuable King. When he’s off the court, this team loses. When he’s there, they win. Simple as that. The Kings cannot survive another major Miller injury, especially with center depth resembling that of Into the Blue’s plot. No Brad, no contender.
Despite every indication that Miller has been the vital cog on this team in his two seasons, why isn’t he heralded as anything special by the fans or the media? Peja is the best shooter in the game, and Bibby is obviously a top-flight point guard. But neither are in the top 5 at their position. And isn’t center the most important position in the game? And name me a current center better than Brad not named Yao or Shaquille. You can’t, because there isn’t one.
Miller has been an All-star twice. The first time, he was more or less ridiculed as the worst All-Star selection ever. The second time, he was having an MVP season about to be derailed by Mr. Tyra Banks’ bum knee.
Miller took more shots than ever last season, but that needs to increase a little more. Will it, with Peja established as THE guy, Bibby trying to make the 20 ppg threshold and two new guys Shareef Abdur-Rahim and Bonzi Wells looking to get looks? That’s the biggest question of the season: Will Brad Miller get utilized enough to be a legitimate threat every possession? If not, that’s a whole lot of wasted talent.
Mike Bibby: No player is closer to the cusp of superstardom. His playoff performance notwithstanding, last season was very encouraging for our point guard. I still hold that he was better in 2003-04, when he really ran the show and played off Vlade and Brad really well. Webber, by being Bibby’s go-to guy, really held Mike down early in 04-05. But with the clog gone, Bibby will be the cog responsbile for helping Peja getting looks, as well as incorporating the new guys.
Bibby is the best-shooting point guard in the league, but lagged a bit last season (likely because he took more shots). If he can get back up above the .500 effective field goal percentage mark (which gives extra credit to three-pointers), he get his 20-ppg and get that All-Star berth he deserved long ago. Wheel of Fortune, then the world.
(While you’re here, I’m just going to say it: I wouldn’t really cry too much if Bibby got traded for an athletic front-court player. Bibby’s passing skills can be replaced, especially given the touch Brad has as a point-center type. The guy is balls and there isn’t a more exciting King, but he’s replacable for the right price.)
Bonzi Wells: My question about Bonzi isn’t about his attitude or off-court antics. It’s about his defense. That’s what we missed when Mr. and Mrs. Christie went to DisneyWorld last season – perimeter defense. With Bibby’s clamps as loose as they are, someone has to guard the other team’s best guard.
People forget that you can have a good defense with bad defenders – look at San Antonio. Tony Parker can’t guard the Magic Johnson Blimp, let alone guys like Steve Nash and Baron Davis. But because of Bruce Bown, the Spurs can hide Parker.
Very few teams are going to bring two stud playmaker guards to town. So if Bonzi can take the Kobes and the Jesus Shuttlesworths and the Tony Parkers – well, then we just could hold teams to less than 100 points per game with Bibby guarding Aaron McKie and Luke Ridnour and Manu Ginobili. (Okay, maybe not.)
On offense, we won’t need much from Bonzi – he’s the fifth option in the starting lineup. Selfishly, we kind of hope he doesn’t do much on offense, because that’ll keep him cheaper next summer (when he and Peja are both free agents). Bonzi could be Petrie’s coup de grace, now that power forward position is a strength, not a weakness (as it would’ve been if it’d been left status quo).
But to be the vital piece to the puzzle, Bonzi needs to play Doug-Christie-like defense. We don’t know if he can. The guys behind him aren’t horrible backstops – Peja can get physical from time to time, and Shareef and Brad are average to slightly above average on D. Bonzi won’t score 15 a game, so any value he needs to add to his game will have to come away from the ball.
There are some other questions out there, too: Will Rick Adelman beat up one of the Maloofs on his way out of town? Can Kevin Martin make the jump to serviceable back-up, or will he just slowly begin to look like Gerald Wallace? Will Brian Skinner’s foot fall off before Christmas? Will Brad break his leg in a freak injury caused by tripping over said foot? Can Kenny Thomas compete for Sixth Man of the Year? Will Greg Ostertag go for 30-20 when the Jazz visit the Kings? Will Phil Jackson or Kobe Bryant get booed harder at ARCO? Will the arena issue overshadow the games again? Can someone poison Tim Duncan’s food with strychnine? How many weeks before Mark Kreidler writes a self-triumphant column on knowing Bonzi would be a good fit all along? How many weeks before I write a self-triumphant column on knowing Bonzi would be a good fit all along?
Yes, I love this game.
Tom Ziller is the editor of SACKINGSBLOG.com and a contributor to The Sac Rag. His book, Life in the Sac: Pocket Full of Smog and a River Filled With Bums, is due out in Jan. 2010. Tom can be reached at tziller@gmail.com.
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