Kings Stop Timberwolves 100-98
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Kevin Martin is a six-foot, seven-inch starting guard for the Sacramento Kings. Few noticed when he was drafted by the Kings as an undergraduate out of Western Carolina with the 26th overall pick in the 2004 NBA draft. A native of Zanesville, Ohio, Martin became the first athlete out of Western Carolina selected in the first round of any professional draft. In his rookie season, he participated in only 45 games, averaging 2.9 points per game. Last year, following Sacramento’s January trade for Ron Artest, Martin began to see more action and averaged 14.7 points in February and March.
Eric Musselman is the first-year coach of the Sacramento Kings. Prior to that Musselman was an assistant coach with the Memphis Grizzlies and head coach of the Golden State Warriors. When he was 23 years old, he became the youngest coach in the history of the Continental Basketball Association (CBA). Like his father, the late Bill Musselman (first coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves), young Eric honed his professional basketball coaching skills in the CBA. In a seven-year span, he posted the second highest winning percentage (.689) in league history.
On January 31, coach Musselman and player Martin combined to knock the wind out of the sails of the high-flying Minnesota Timberwolves, a team that had ended the 17-game winning streak of the Phoenix Suns two nights before
With the Sacramento trailing by 96-95 and 25 seconds remaining to be played, Musselman called time out and drew up the play that eventually had Martin wide open on the right side to receive a pass from Mike Bibby. Martin sank an 18-footer, and the Kings went on to win 100-98, aided in no small measure by a pair of turnovers by rookie Timberwolf Randy Foye. It was fitting that Martin scored the winning basket because the 23-year old was easily the best player on the Target Center floor that night. A 2006 scouting report on Martin indicated “shot selection is an issue” with him; “motivation and scoring are not.” On January 31, Martin’s shot selection was outstanding. He led all scorers with 28 points, including 3 three-pointers. Nine of his total were scored in the fourth quarter.
Musselman’s strategy from the get-go was to corral Kevin Garnett, who two nights earlier had scored 44 points in the defeat of Phoenix. “We wanted to show Garnett a wall of Kings,” Musselman remarked afterward in explaining his defensive scheme. Sacramento moved to mousetrap Garnett every time he touched the ball, and the strategy worked as the Minnesota All-Star NBA starter was held to just 4 points in the first two periods.
Trapping Garnett, however, left other Timberwolves open, but the team was unable to respond and played as if hung over from the big Phoenix win. An angry Randy Wittman faced media members after the game and told them his team’s play was “unacceptable. We didn’t bust our tails in the first half and it showed. We came out with low energy.”
The lethargic Wolves trailed by 26-22 at the end of the first quarter and 54-41 at halftime. “We didn’t play hard,” Wittman said. “We didn’t deserve to win.” In the second half, Minnesota came to life and took the lead prior to Martin’s heroics and Foye’s blunders. Ricky Davis, who was yanked eight minutes into the game, picked up the pace in the second half and led Minnesota scorers with 24 points, 11 of them in the fourth quarter. The smooth Artest scored 23 for the Kings.
Despite having to play four road games in six nights, Musselman’s team came out victorious (only the Kings’ 18th win of the season), and Timberwolves’ fans left the game shaking their heads and muttering about what might have been.
When asked what to look for in upcoming games, Wittman replied: “I’ll figure something out.” Stay tuned.