Kings/Stojakovic/Divac/Webber

[Tony]

I've talked to the guy on MSN a few days ago, he's pretty much recovered from the illness. I guess he's just too busy with school to hang around and waste time here.

[Jackal]

Problem here is, he comes on around 1 am or 2 am (island time)...since I've moved to the Netherlands, I never get a chance to talk to him, I once saw him online, it was 6 friggin am in the morning (Netherlands time, which is equevalant to 1 am Island time), I ofcourse, went to bed.

Meh, I'll catch him on one of these days, vacation and all.

[Stevan]

Courtesy of Chicagosports.com and Sam Smith... not really Webber related but interesting none the less. Including all the funny stuff at the end

That must have been the Sacramento Kings' window of opportunity closing on injured Chris Webber. Otherwise, how could he be out this long? And, yo, anyone seen Vlade Divac lately? Two words, Vlade: Weight Watchers. And since when did Brad Miller, the center with the Herman Munster moves, turn into Larry Bird? Here's a guy with a career average of 1.7 assists who's averaging 4.9 on the season and has three triple-doubles. And what happened to that vaunted depth? The Mal-oof brothers' casinos must have taken some losses the way they gave away Jim Jackson, Keon Clark and Hedo Turkoglu. And, sure, Pete Carril is a nice man. But he's what, 106?

The Kings are a game behind the Lakers while playing the most appealing basketball in the NBA. They're the league's most unselfish team and play with enthusiasm. They lead the league in scoring, assists and three-point shooting. They're second in field-goal and free-throw shooting. They're outscoring opponents by almost eight per game, best in the NBA. No, they aren't the old Pistons on defense, but you can't be defending that badly when you outscore opponents by that much.




And Rick Adelman isn't supposed to have anything to do with this?

"He's maybe the most unappreciated quality coach in the last 10 years or so," said Jerry Reynolds, a former Kings coach and now a team broadcaster. "It's amazing the success he's had to get so little credit. The style of play is unique. They're one of the few teams in the current NBA to play a legitimate five-man offense. Sure, (assistant coach) Pete Carril has an influence, but it's Rick's offense. It's amazing how many media people watch and fail to understand. We've got good players, no doubt, but if they're not utilized right, the results are bad."

It has sort of been sport around the NBA to belittle Adelman's coaching. But, funny thing, he's tied for 10th all-time in winning percentage and the teams he left, Portland and Golden State, had poorer records afterward. Great coaching requires great players, but you'd have trouble identifying the future Hall of Famer on the Kings. And what is good coaching but effort and results, which Adelman gets.

"Rick's a good guy. He's not a self promoter," Reynolds added. "He doesn't look for ways to get on TV and be an expert. He does his job and goes home. So many coaches want control so bad to look like they are coaching, they can't turn things over to the players. Rick's system allows players to make a lot of their own decisions. Sometimes it doesn't work, but it makes for a more free-flowing game players love to play. As a fan, that's the kind of team I'd want to watch instead of so much of the isolation, pick-and-roll you see in the NBA now."

Stocking stuffers: It's not as festive a holiday season as it should be, especially in the East.

Knicks coach Don Chaney got the dreaded vote of confidence from general manager Scott Layden and is truly day to day. Layden isn't doing that well either. The front line he acquired of Dikembe Mutombo, Antonio McDyess and Keith Van Horn is playing, and the team is losing and being mocked.

After an easy victory in New York, Golden State players said they had never seen such a slow front line. Kurt Thomas was benched for McDyess and wants to be traded. Also benched was Charlie Ward, among the league leaders in assists, so Thomas told reporters: "Those are the things you should be writing about." Van Horn has refused to talk to media about the fourth-quarter benchings. Chaney then offered up a rambling speech to the media after dropping to 67-106 as Knicks coach: "When I woke up in the morning I didn't care one way or another what my situation was because I could be fired at any time or I could stay on."

Waiting as possible interim coach is assistant and former Hawks coach Lon Kruger.

In New Jersey, Byron Scott should hold on until the team's expected sale, but not much longer. The Nets, who will play host to the Bulls on Tuesday, are nearing full mutiny. Jason Kidd blasted Scott in a meeting after a 47-point loss to Memphis, then denied it and stopped talking to reporters. (Who hasn't?) Kidd's halo has disappeared as the New York media finally put together a career of dishonesty and disingenuousness. Among the transgressions, Kidd got his college coach, Lou Campanelli, fired midway through his freshman season at Cal, had an ugly hit-and-run incident, broke up the "Three Js" in Dallas after a dispute with Jim Jackson over singer Toni Braxton and had bad relationships with coaches Dick Motta and Jim Cleamons in Dallas and Scott Skiles in Phoenix. And there was the time he was accused of assault by his wife. One Nets official said, "You have to go through Jason's history. Every time things turn bad, he blames the coach."

Finally, in Atlanta, there are more complaints than fans. Coach Terry Stotts benched Jason Terry and Theo Ratliff for being late for shootaround. Stotts said he didn't like the way Terry responded, and Terry answered: "I wasn't impressed with his coaching either." Ratliff then bashed the team's defense: "Every team knows that if you drive on us, the only person you have to worry about is me standing back there because nobody is going to help each other." Stephen Jackson previously was benched for cursing out the coaching staff. Said Ratliff: "You don't have a team with a record like this and change don't happen." Shareef Abdur-Rahim was said to have looked up and shrugged.

Shopping daze: There could be a run on big men. At the top of the most-available list are Thomas, Othella Harrington and Clarence Weatherspoon in New York, Ratliff in Atlanta, Juwan Howard in Orlando and Zydrunas Ilgauskas in Cleveland. Tyrone Hill was released in Miami, and Houston's Eddie Griffin, if he doesn't go to jail, also has been released and would interest Portland if Bob Whitsitt were still there. Griffin faces felony assault and misdemeanor drug charges.

Holiday cheer: Now Denver's Jeff Bdzelik is a real NBA coach. The UIC grad launched into an obscenity-filled tirade last week when asked why he wasn't playing Francisco Elson more.

"You can't play [bleeping] 12 [bleeping] guys, period," Bdzelik said. "I know you're going to make a big [bleeping] deal about it every [bleeping] time. [Bleep]. I've had it." Can the coach-of-the-year award be far away?

Sleeping in Seattle: Sonics center Jerome James, benched for falling asleep in a team meeting, stammered in explanation: "I wasn't the only one sleeping. Other people were sleeping, but [coach] Nate McMillan saw me." And who says NBA players shouldn't be role models?

He's back? You knew it wouldn't be long before you heard this. "I'm sure it's going to cross his mind," Sean Elliott said of Alonzo Mourning. Elliott came back to the NBA in 2001 after his 1999 kidney transplant. "I wanted to make sure I was 100 percent healthy before I even thought about it. And I'm sure he's going to do the same thing."

Josh by gosh: The stumbling Mavs are gaga over rookie Josh Howard. "He's definitely carved his way into the rotation," coach Don Nelson said. Owner Mark Cuban says that Michael Finley, who plays the same position as Howard and is out with a toe injury, won't be traded. But then he also told that to Tim Hardaway and Nick Van Exel.

Canada dry: There was no alcohol served at Sunday's Raptors game in Toronto. The team had to forfeit one game of liquor sales because it violated provincial sales laws earlier this season by continuing to serve inebriated patrons. Can't be a major world power that way.

[Boyk]

Perhaps the Kings could deal him for a young relatively talented forward such as Marcus Fizer + whoever else. Perhaps Orlando would give them Howard and someone else + a first rounder? I know salaries need to be matched. It is early to be looking at the next draft, but this could be an advantage for the Kings.

Hmm Kings could trade for Zach Randolph using Webber. Zach's been getting 25 and 11 almost every night, very consistant player, and YOUNG. will only get better, would be interesting to see him in sac-town i reckon.

NOO! I'd like to see Randolph out of Portland, but anywhere than those bloody que.....sorry kings.

[Matt]

Webber is excellent in the regular season but in the playoffs he's the biggest pussy known the man. He's afraid of taking over a game and taking it inside. This season he'll have to do that against Malone and Shaq, hahah

[1CenT]

Webber's got a decent standstill midrange jumper... A very good one actually... Garnett can do fadeaways with his midrange jumpers.. thats the difference.. Have you seen Garnett Lately? wow... Hes got Cassell and Sprewell and hes still doing near 25 ppg..

Webber's got a good hookshot, and a good standstill midrange jumper.. thats pretty much it.. and hes got good hands and finishes strong when given a chance..

He seems to be someone who silently gets his 20 points maybe b/c hes on the Kings he gets quite a few open shots/layups/dunks

Garnett and the Wolves on the other hand plays a more set half-court offense with Garnett posting up or Cassell doing pickandrolls or going to Sprewell midpost.. Garnett has certainly developed a superior midrange game/post game than Webber's...