KIngs more of a mess off the court than on

Presumably, when Kings coach Paul Westphal asks you where you’ve been writing, that means your hiatus has been a bit pronounced.

However, if you don’t feel it, then it’s better to wait until you do feel it, instead of just writing some garbage. As my man legendary funkster George Clinton says, “If you fake the funk, your nose will grow.”

Thinking of Westphal and looking at how this season has unfolded for him, made me think of Detroit head coach John Kuester’s situation.

As jacked up and uncertain as things are for the Kings, at least there have been no reports of boycotts and uprisings.

On virtually every life level, whenever it seems as if things aren’t going your way, look around. There’s likely someone close by who has similar or worse problems.

Kuester Monday received the dreaded support of Pistons President Joe Dumars. Often times, that’s a coach’s kiss of death. However, Kuester’s Pistons are 5 1//2 games out of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference and that’s close enough to keep him around until season’s end.

There would be nothing served positively by replacing Kuester.

As for Westphal, he and the Kings receive credit for being consistent. Sacramento is 8-22 at home and 7-21 on the road. Unfortunately, the Kings have been consistently poor.

With 24 games remaining, there is plenty of time for improvement, individual and team.

Forget not knowing whether the Kings will continue playing in Sacramento or be moved to Anaheim or elsewhere for that matter.

From a team standpoint, the Kings have displayed the ability to effectively perform every facet of the game. It’s their inability to sustain a high level of efficiency that has left them with a 15-43 record.

Yet, unlike those semi-experts such as Hall of Famer and TNT broadcaster Charles Barkley who believe the Kings talent is totally subpar, that’s not the case.

Certainly, it’s not equal to the level of the league’s best, but the Kings have proven capable of competing.

Many, if not most, of the Kings difficulties have been born from inexperience, immaturity and unfamiliarity.

If you’ve listened to Westphal all season, his comments are so similar to those out of the mouths of other coaches whose teams lose close games.

And these teams are far deeper and more experienced than the Kings, yet the methods of winning games are all the same. Teams have to protect their lane and basket. They have to consistently execute their offense.

And perhaps most importantly, teams have to play with heart and ferocity. They have to take advantage of opportunities and minimize the opportunities they present to the opposition.

Rookie DeMarcus Cousins has struggled since the All-Star break and that’s not highly surprising. Cousins is shooting 32 percent (16 of 50) from the field and averaging 5.5 turnovers during his past five games.

No. 1, all players have their struggles. No.2 Cousins still hasn’t scratched the surface of learning his game.

That’s before mentioning the 20-year-old still is trying to figure out who he is and what he truly wants to become. If you are older than 20, then you might be able to remember what those thoughts were then and how life has run its ever-unfolding misdirection plays.

Look at Monday night’s starting lineup and only center Sameul Dalembert and guard Beno Udrih have a strong knowledge of their respective games and themselves. Hence, that’s hardly a logical prescription for nightly success.

As the Maloof family and their plans, those appear far shakier than the team’s prospects. It seems to me as if the Maloofs don’t know what they are going to do.

If they know they are going to relocate the team in Anaheim, the easiest and most humanistic thing to do is say that’s the deal.

That’s more so for their employees if not just for their devoted and loyal fans, many of whom I’ve had the privilege of meeting and getting to know.

Throughout my 13 years of dealing with them, I’ve always said the Maloofs are the most down-to-earth millionaire business folk I’ve met. Yet, what’s real is once the family decided to sell their Coors distributorship, that was a major sign their financial situation was approaching dire straits.

From a bottom-line perspective, until prohibition hits, beer likely always will be consumed. So desperation had to factor into that decision.

Moreover, that was their late father’s business – not something easily kicked to the curb.

Not knowing the family’s financial standing, it’s impossible to truly know how the Maloofs will play their hand. Shoot, we don’t even know what cards they are holding.

And I wonder if they do.

The Kings have more issues than LeBron has haters

The Sacramento Kings have lost five straight and 11 of their past 12 games. They are 4-12 overall and an incredibly poor 2-8 at home.

Friday night, the Kings travel to play the two-time defending champion Los Angeles Lakers who (in the words of late comedian Robin Harris) will be ‘pissed to the highest of pisstivity’ (no, that’s not a word) after losing four straight games.

The next night the Kings host the Dallas Mavericks, who currently share the NBA’s longest winning streak (with Utah) at seven.

Coach Paul Westphal felt the need Monday to kick the team’s first-round draft choice, DeMarcus Cousins, out of practice.

Tyreke Evans, last season’s Rookie of the Year, for the first time of his 21 years, is having difficulty scoring.

Moreover, judging Evans from his words, he’s feeling like some of his teammates think he’s at times playing selfishly.

“I’m thinking team-first,” Evans said. “If I score and guys (aren’t) getting touches then that’s when they just stop playing and think I’m selfish. So I try to go out there and get my teammates involved and to play hard.

“I’m just trying to figure out, whether it’s score or get assists, how to get us going.”

That some of his teammates feel Evans plays selfishly comes as no surprise because at times I’ve felt the same way.

Evans clearly is feeling the weight of the constant losing. Evans is a talent trying to lead when in a best-case scenario he would be the one being led. As we know, though, this is far from a best-case scenario.

Cousins, meanwhile, is another talent attempting to find his way. He’s in a new place and time. He’s a first-time professional dealing with, and seeing new situations.

A lot is made of Cousins’ immaturity and at 20 years and three months he’s hardly a finished product. He’s got a lot to learn and he doesn’t know as much as he thinks.

The kid should be focused only on himself and improving his game. Yet, he thinks he knows so much he feels entitled to question his coaching staff. Looking back on my life, one of the most important things to learn is when to shut up.

And 55, I’m much better at it, but sometimes I falter.

Cousins said Tuesday before the game he’d said nothing to Westphal and the coach had said nothing to him.

“I haven’t said (anything) to him and he didn’t say anything to me,” said Cousins, who then scored 20 points on nine of 16 field-goal attempts and grabbed eight rebounds in nearly 23 minutes of the 107-98 loss to Indiana.

“It’s a new day. I didn’t dwell on it. We’ve got to move on.”

When asked why he didn’t talk to Cousins the day after tossing him from practice, Westphal said with a laugh, “He heard enough from me (Monday).”

That may have been true, but it may not have been the whole truth. There is the possibility that the rookie doesn’t like the coach. Cousins probably doesn’t know Westphal well enough to know if he likes him or doesn’t.

Truthfully, it’s neither here nor there. Cousins is an employee and has to find a way of dealing with his boss respectfully. I haven’t liked each of my supervisors but I never was intentionally disrespectful. That’s unprofessional and learning to be a pro is one of the new obstacles Cousins faces.

It might help the young boy to realize Westphal wants nothing more than to consistently help him uncover more of his talent.

Westphal was asked if dealing with Cousins will compare with any past player-coach relationships.

“Oh, yeah,” the coach said with an incredulous look. “Have you looked at who I’ve coached?”

I hadn’t, but I now have. Over the years while coaching Phoenix and Seattle, Westphal had 3½ seasons of Charles Barkley and 2½ seasons of Gary Payton. Throw in Tom Chambers, Oliver Miller, Dale Ellis, a sometimes intoxicated Vin Baker, Ruben Patterson and my main man, the incendiary Vernon Maxwell.

That’s one special group of players and hardly a mouth monitor between them.

Yeah, Cousins has a long, long, long way to go before he gets into that neighborhood of mind-speak.

Westphal says neither he nor the organization had blinders on when they drafted Cousins. The Kings knew Cousins was a vocally emotional talent.

“I love the guy,” the coach said of the player. “We’re going to have ups and downs and we’re going to have some more downs. We’re going to butt heads.

“We knew that when we drafted him. He’s our guy. We’re going to keep working with him. And he’s going to get better. And someday, we’ll look back, hopefully, and I’ll say, ‘You sure were a knucklehead.’

“And he’ll say, ‘I know, but thanks for sticking with me.’

“I mean, he’s got passion. And he also can be impatient and misplace his passion. And we’re trying to help him.”

But you also have to be respectful.

“I’ve heard a lot worse than DeMarcus has given me, believe me. I love DeMarcus and he’ll either love me know or he’ll love me soon again.”

In my opinion, Westphal Tuesday in that loss to Indiana went way beyond sensibility in the third quarter of the loss to Indiana, to show Evans he had his back during these tough times.

The Kings were going through one of those once a game tough stretches that kill them. Evans was turning the ball over and generally playing poorly. Luther Head scored the team’s only field goals during first 10 minutes of the quarter.

The situation called for Beno Udrih, who made each of his six first-half field-goal attempts on the way to 15 points, to replace Evans. Yet, the coach waited nine minutes before he subbed in Udrih.

Personally, I’d have squatted Tyreke’s butt with the quickness while the Kings were being outscored, 17-2, to start the quarter.

Said Westphal, “How can a young guy get to know how handle situations until he plays the minutes. I’m not going to take Tyreke out if misses a couple of shots or makes a couple of bad plays, like he’s no good., because I think he’s very good.”

Meanwhile, Evans says his team has to find a way to play a solid 48 minutes, and a team meeting last week didn’t help. Yet, he believes the team remains confident.

“Definitely,” he said. “We’ve got the players. (A lack of) execution is what is killing us. We’ve got to stay together.

“We’ve had a meeting, but it was like in one ear and out the other. It was without the coaches. I think it was Sunday.

“We’re just frustrated right now and we’re trying to find a way. It’s tough right now.”


On an entirely different front, Lebron James goes back to Cleveland for the first time and I can’t wait to see how it plays out.

If I was James, I’d be trying to get 50 in our victory. If I’m playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers, there’s little I wouldn’t do to drop an ‘L’ on his way out of town.

Intense feelings on both sides – not to mention the crowd - should make for a great game.

Manute Bol was beyond special

You never think someone you know is going to die, even though eventually we all do. But Saturday's news that former NBA shot-blocker extraordinaire Manute Bol had died at 47 hit me hard.

I knew Bol recently had been hospitalized with a skin disease after returning from his native Sudan, but I always thought he'd recover. Ultimately, kidney failure prevented any recovery.

Bol had been in the Sudan to help get schools built and then stayed until mid-May when he was asked by the president of southern Sudan to make election appearances and help counter corruption in the country.

The first time I met Bol - all 7-foot-7 inches of him - was during an interview at Reunion Arena in Dallas. Bol was sitting down, I was standing up and he still was taller than me.

I was wearing a hat made from kente cloth (native of Ghana and the Ivory Coast) and it immediately attracted Bol, who could be shy, but also had a boisterous and outgoing side once unleashed.

Actually, writing that statement made me smile and think of the TV show back in the day on which Rick Mahorn and Charles Barkley pulled a prank on Bol.

I can't remember whether it Mahorn or Barkley, but one of those two nutcases put his head through a hole in the table that was covered with different food dishes.

The hole was covered by metallic food plate cover and when Bol picked up the top, he jumped back and the look on his face was priceless.

In fact, Mahorn and Barkley talked so much stuff to Bol, they probably could have been arrested for verbal assault, if such a charge existed.

The Sudanese native had come to the United States to play basketball, spent a year at Division II University of Bridgeport where he set record after record in rebounding and shot blocking. One of his Bridgeport teammates was John Mullin, brother of then St. John's and future NBA star, Chris Mullin.

Back to the kente cloth hat, Bol asked if I was from Jamaica.

I told him, yeah, and asked him how he knew.

He said, "You're wearing that kente on your head."

I told him, I grew up in Jamaica, Queens, and he started laughing and called over one of his partners in hilarity, Mullin, a Golden State Warriors teammate.

In fact, I'd bet every possession I have, 'Nute never knew my name.

He always called me, 'Jamaica,' and then started laughing.

"You ain't from Jamaica, boy. Jamaica, Queens don't count," said Bol with his wide smile that always was highlighted by the contrast of his jet-black skin.

Bol's height and skin made him stand out visually in the U.S.

On the court, Bol, 47, had no problems blocking anyone's shot, but the real kicker was his eventual ability . Strength never was a forte since he weighed no more than 225 pounds on a really good day.

However, that didn't stop him from telling the story about killing a lion. He would be serious as a heart attack and since we're from here, who were we to tell him he was lying.

Chris Mullin said Saturday from Denver he had been thinking about detouring his trip back to New York through Virginia to see Bol in the hospital.

"I just talked to him last week," Mullin said. "He actually sounded pretty good, but I guess he took a turn for the worse last night. I'd been keep track of him through one of his sons."

Mullin said last night he'd been reminded of Bol.

"I was getting a Hertz rental car and the guy working for them asked me if I was Nute's guy," Mullin said. "He said, 'Your Manute's guy.'" He was Sudanese and he was pretty young. My son, Liam (13) asked me how that guy knew me and Nute were tight.

"But they were from the same country and Nute was a guy everyone from there knew about."

Mullin said Bol was 'so complex. Man, he'd been through so much growing up in the Sudan. Once he was here, obviously because of his size and complexion he stood and people didn't know how to take him.

"I'd known him before the NBA, during the NBA and then after, so it was like three different phases of his life. What he was though, was really, really funny. He could be brutally honest. The guy was a fighter."

Mullin said that was evident last week when he phoned Bol.

Said Mullin, "My phone number wasn't in his phone and when I started giving him (stuff) he started talking (stuff) back to me. He was a fighter even when he wasn't feeling well. Then when I told him it was me we just started laughing. He said, 'Chalk,' I didn't know that was you."

Mullin said Bol attracted attention wherever he was.

"Him and my brother would come to games at St. John's," Mullin said. "When they showed up, everybody in Alumni Hall (now Carnesecca Court) would just stop and turn around and look at him.

"But Nute always went back to the Sudan to try and help, I think because he'd gone through so much and seen so much when he was growing up."

Where as Bol and Mullin were the ultimate Ebony-Ivory combination, it was the pairing of Bol and 5-foot-7 Spud Webb as United States Basketball League teammates that brought the long and short of it all.

"We lived together with John Hot Rod Williams from LSU when we played together during the summer in Rhode Island for Kevin Stacom," Webb said Saturday evening. "John was such a country guy and you had Manute talking about using spears to kill food. It was something special.

"But Manute always had a joking personality. I saw him a couple of years ago and he wasn't getting around after that car accident he'd been in, but there he was telling jokes."

Bol indeed was special in part because of his natural humanitarian nature.

As a basketball player, Bol is believed to be the only NBA player to have registered more blocked shots (2086) than points scored (1599).

Rest in peace, Nute.

When you think you know, you don't

One thing about sports, is unlike Charles Barkley, we all really are experts.

One other thing about sports is the only place we are experts is in our minds.

Ultimately, Charles is right, at least about this one. We all know Charles weaves in facts amongst his hilarious takes on life, sports and basketball.

However, from the guys we used to pass on 205th st and Linden Blvd. every morning our way to Andrew Jackson High School to the allegedly big-time sportswriters toiling for the New York Times, New York Daily News, the old Long Island Press, the New York Post and Newsday, we all thought we knew why the New York Knicks, New York Mets, Yankees, Giants and Jets were doing what they were doing.

Nothing has changed. Those winos we passed daily waiting for the liquor stores to open didn't know any more or much less, for that matter, than the sportswriters. Everybody had theories, but no one truly knew or ever knows.

I can't speak for the so-called experts, but if they know so much, take it to Nevada and put that cheese where all the verbiage comes from.

I know I would if I felt that strongly. But you never know.

Many brainiacs believed the Boston Celtics would close out the Orlando Magic Friday night. However, many of those brainiacs, myself included, thought after the Celtics took that 3-0 series lead, they were going to win in four.

Moreover, how many of the brainiacs, myself included, would have guessed Nate Robinson would prove to be the Game Six spark offensively and defensively. Robinson clearly took Orlando's Jameer Nelson out of the game with his feisty, aggressive defense. All that while Robinson directed the Boston offense impeccably and scored 13 second-quarter points to enable the Celts to seize control.

By the way, what was that cheap-shot garbage Kevin Garnett did when he twice slammed his right forearm against the right wrist of Orlando's Dwight Howard with 8:09 left in the first quarter. Garnett got away with the first time before referee Mike Callahan whistled him after the second.

Garnett complained Howard was holding him. I've always been a proponent that when you're hooping and the referees won't help you, then you've got to do it yourself. Now, Garnett merely used his left hand to slap Howard's hand away once before twice violently slamming his right forearm.

So in a way I'm torn. You, especially at the professional level, have to keep people off you, pretty much by any means, necessary. However, that was Garnett's second foul early in the first quarter on a night when no one truly knew how long or how well either Rasheed Wallace and/or Glen (Big Baby) Davis could play.

The play occurred right in front of Callahan on the baseline. Whether he saw the entire situation only he knows. Yet, Callahan should have whistled Garnett for a flagrant foul because simply, it was flagrant.

Since this blog is in it's infancy, we'll be coming from different directions. It's like that when things are on the fly. We're going to start with a question or questions of the day. Feel free to reply in the comments section, but please bring the noise. Weakness is discouraged.

Who is the NBA's point guard and why?