Iverson also changes Detroit's defense

The Detroit Pistons’ 100-92 win over the Sacramento Kings last night was closer than what one would reasonably expect from an Eastern Conference finalist going against a Western Conference also-ran that was missing two of its best players.

It’s still quite clear the Pistons have a lot of work to do with Iverson, but the adjustment is not only on the offensive side. The defense also has an adjustment to make.

Detroit has never had the type of guards that team’s would look to post-up the way they’re going to look to post-up Iverson.

Kings guard John Salmons took Iverson down low several times and it nearly won the Kings the game. Pistons first-year coach Michael Curry had a lot on his plate before Joe Dumars traded Chauncey Billups for Iverson, but now he has a lot more. Maybe all this new responsibility took hold last night and Curry was distracted by it as Salmons kept posting up Iverson and making plays for his team. Lets not forget, last night’s game was Curry’s seventh as an NBA head coach. He still has some things to learn, especially on the game-management end.

Detroit gained the advantage once Sacramento started breaking down in its half court sets.

The change in feel defensively may have led to Spencer Hawes playing as well as he did in the limited minutes he had. He always seemed to be working in space. He was hitting open mid-range jumpers and once, working one-on-one against Rasheed Wallace down low, he made Wallace bite on an up-and-under fake and then finished with a two-handed slam.

The only thing that seemed to keep him from dominating the game was that he was in foul trouble. But while he was in there he showed he was both big and quick. He looked a lot like Kevin Love did at UCLA last year — and this was against a Detroit front line that has no slouches.

The Kings lost by eight points without two of their big guns in Kevin Martin and Francisco Garcia. Had they played, perhaps the Pistons would have never been able to lull the Kings into the half court style as much as they did and maybe that would have been enough to get a win.

Either way, the Kings didn’t seem as sorry as they might at first glance appear to be.

But was it Detroit’s defense that made them look that way?

The Celtics shredded it in their 88-76 win over Detroit Sunday and Devin Harris looked like a franchise player two nights before in a 106-93 win over the Pistons in New Jersey.

Artest sinks teams like a rock

How are the Sacramento Kings going to get rid of Ron Artest?

Certainly it’s the right thing to do right now.

When the Kings brought him in as value for trading away Peja Stojakovic, it was another step away from the team that had pushed the Lakers dynasty to the brink of elimination.

The trade signified a switch. They had enough offense to win, but they needed defense and a little toughness — something that wouldn’t fail them in crunch time.

Peja was a major part of a team that had peaked, but when the pressure tightened, so did his shooting wrist. On the court it was a coup for the Kings. Here they were able to land a player who could score regularly enough to lead the team on some nights and there were able to add one of the leagues premiere defensive players along with it.

But off the court it couldn’t have been any worse.

One of the reasons the Pacers wanted to get rid of him anyway was his leading role in the Motown basketball riot of 2004. He had also asked management for some time off at the beginning of the season in order to promote his record label. He wanted to take a month off.

The move out to Sacramento put him closer to prime destination for his entertainment business interests and he seemed to fit in well with the Maloof brothers, the owners of the Kings, who had entertainment interests of their own to worry about outside of the NBA franchise they owned. If anyone would understand what Artest has to go through to promote his record label, it would be those two.

It also made sense because with the way the Western Conference was headed there was no way the Kings were going to be a team that could make it to the NBA Finals by outscoring teams like the Mavs and Kings. They would need someone to beat them up. With Artest and Brad Miller, two of the hottest heads in the league, the Kings weren’t going to get pushed around.

Three seasons later the Kings have failed to win as many games in a season as they did without Artest and now people are starting to realize the 6-7 small forward from New York City is infected with the same thing that Stephon Marbury. It neutralizes their talent on the court and makes their team struggle to win games.

The Kings were 50-32 the year before Artest showed up. They won 44 games in Artest’s first year with the team, and that number dropped to 33 the next year. Last year Sacramento won 38 games and the it was enough for them to venture further away from win-now mode by trading veteran point guard Mike Bibby.

Artest is the next player that needs to go. A youth movement is ready to start in Sacramento. This is Kevin Martin’s team and the young kid from rural eastern Ohio, doesn’t need the boy from New York City flexing his East Coast attitude.

The Kings are in need of a point guard and, with Artest’s departure, a small forward. They have a couple of tough guys at power forward and center and have third-year pro Shelden Williams to groom.

That’s why a deal to the Pistons makes sense for them. Ron Artest for Tayshaun Prince and Chancey Billups. The Detroit Free Press reports that Detroit is interested.

He would give Detroit a psychopath to guard Lebron James.

But it’s not worth it.

Anyone that takes in Ron Artest is destined for failure.

Artest for Odom is a rip-off

Other than the fact that Ron Artest is set to make about half the money that Lamar Odom will make next year, it’s curious to see the reports that the Lakers would be willing to part with Odom for a perennial firestorm in Artest. No doubt Artest would bring toughness to the Lakers, but he will also pack a wild card everywhere he goes. This is a person that once wanted to take a few months off during the season in order to promote his rap label. How distracted would he be in Los Angeles? The Lakers made it to the Finals last year and they weren’t 100-percent. They’ll still have arguably the best player in the world on their team and it’s not clear that any of the other Western Conference teams will be any better than they were last year. Bringing in Artest could upset last year’s chemistry, especially if the team doesn’t win right away. In the best case scenario the Lakers would be getting a motivated Artest that gives the Lakers scoring and rebounding and quickly learns Phil Jackson’s triangle offense. Scoring and rebounding should be a given with Artest. Motivation and learning the offense? That’s another issue all together. Odom can dribble, shoot, pass, rebound and won’t fly of the handle at any given time. Odom for Artest is a steal for the Kings.