Kings G Bibby to undergo foot surgery October 12, 2002 SACRAMENTO, California (Ticker) - Sacramento Kings point guard Mike Bibby will undergo surgery Saturday for a stress fracture in his right foot that will keep him off the court indefinitely. Bibby suffered a stress fracture in the fifth metatarsal Friday in practice. He is scheduled to undergo outpatient surgery Saturday morning at UC Davis Medical Center and reportedly will miss up to two months. "In the short term, this is an unfortunate turn of events for Mike and our team, considering how well he has played during the first two weeks of training camp," Kings president of basketball operations Geoff Petrie said. Petrie said it is only a minor delay in Bibby "enjoying an outstanding season." The Kings' floor leader had 10 points in Thursday night's 102-92 preseason win over the Utah Jazz. Bibby averaged a less-than-sensational 13.7 points and 5.0 assists during his first regular season with the Kings but emerged as one of the NBA's best point guards during the playoffs, nearly leading Sacramento past the Los Angeles Lakers. In a thrilling seven-game Western Conference finals series against the NBA champions, Bibby averaged 22.7 points. This will mark the second straight year the Kings will start a season without a marquee player. Last year, Chris Webber sat out the first two months with a sprained ankle. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Well, I'm not happy that Bibby is out. On the strength on of his performance over 16 playoff games last season, basketball critics were raving about this guy being the third best PG in the NBA after Kidd and Payton. I would have liked to see Franchise show the world that he's the better player in a head to head duell (which he can still do when Bibby recovers). However, this is obviously going to affect the Kings negatively. I don't think they have any decent replacement for him. What this shows - if, as I believe, the Kings will suffer from this - is that the best teams can be thrown off balance by an injury to a key player. Now, when you have the situation the Rocks were in last season as several key players were out for long periods of time, you realise why we just did not stand a chance of performing well last season. My question to you guys: Considering that the Kings beat us in all four games last year, do you guys think we stand a better chance against them? I think we do. I also think the Kings will end up not having the best record in the Conference, as everybody previously predicted. It is now the turn of other teams to suffer injuries (Shaq, Lewis, now Bibby). We've had our turn.
Your perspective is spot on. I am not happy for injuries, but we has ours and others will have theirs. The Push for Top 4 in the West just took closer step.
I think losing Bibby hurts them a little. Remember though, at times last year, Bobby Jackson was leading this team in the 4th quarter and was considered not far behind Bibby. Thats the problem with Sac. They are so deep, even if they lose a starter, their second team is so strong, they wouldnt suffer as much as other teams. That being said, even without Bibby, Kings are still in a different class than we are. At least until proven otherwise.
Bibby's out "only" 6-8 weeks, right? And about 2-3 of those are pre-season weeks, correct? So it's not as if they've lost the guy for the entire season. They didn't seem to suffer a lot with Webber out. They're still tough with Bobby Jackson running the show.
Gimme a break. Them losing Bibby for a month or so wont make much of a difference. They still have one of the most talented teams in the league and will steamroll their opponents. It's not like their offense requires a great pg anyway.
The Kings would have to lose Bibby, Stoiko AND Webber before we have a real chance. Geesh, the Kings second team is better than alot of other first teams in this league.
I don't think their bench is THAT good, and their second team isn't as good as anybody's first team. They have a nice bench, not a great bench, that was evident last year. And I'm not scared at all of the King, the only reason the Rockets struggled against them was the Rockets lack of a frontcourt, now they have that. You can put Bibby, Webber, Peja, whoever and I think the Rockets could beat them. Last time the Rockets played the Kings it was a good backcourt vs a good backcourt and good frontcourt. Now the Rockets have evened the odds. Missing Bibby will hurt them far more then people realize. They'll win, but there's a reason why Bobby Jackson is a career backup.
DoD - Take your homerun trot. The Kings are foremost a team. This injury is less relevant than the Rockets truly committing to an offensive that emphasizes player and ball movement. That's what will beat the Kings. Not an injury to one player.
Well, I beg to differ. The problematic areas of the schedule for the Kings during that period are the ones bolded, below. My estimate is that they will lose one of the Rockets games and at least four by the time Dec 15th rolls around. Rockets with a much tougher schedule over the same period will have no more than four losses; actually closer to three. Most importantly, however, is that by the time he comes back we would have played them twice, enough to know where we stand in our Push for Top 4 in the West Kings 29 Tue Cleveland 7:00 pm -- -- 31 Thu Portland 7:00 pm -- TNT Nov 2 Sat @ Memphis 5:00 pm -- -- 3 Sun @ Miami 3:00 pm -- -- 5 Tue @ Orlando 4:00 pm -- -- 6 Wed @ New York 4:00 pm -- ESPN Back to Back 8 Fri Memphis 7:30 pm -- ESPN 10 Sun Atlanta 6:00 pm -- -- 13 Wed @ Golden State 6:30 pm -- ESPN 15 Fri @ Seattle 7:00 pm -- -- 17 Sun Orlando 6:00 pm -- -- 19 Tue Chicago 7:00 pm -- -- 20 Wed @ L.A. Clippers 7:30 pm -- -- 22 Fri Phoenix 7:00 pm -- -- 23 Sat @ Portland 7:00 pm -- -- Back to Back 26 Tue @ Cleveland 4:00 pm -- -- 27 Wed @ Minnesota 5:00 pm -- -- Back to Back on the road 29 Fri L.A. Clippers 7:00 pm -- -- Dec 1 Sun Houston 6:00 pm -- -- 3 Tue Minnesota 7:00 pm -- -- 4 Wed @ Denver 6:00 pm -- -- 6 Fri Denver 7:00 pm -- -- 8 Sun @ San Antonio 4:00 pm -- -- 10 Tue @ Houston 5:30 pm -- -- 14 Sat @ Utah 6:00 pm ............................................................................... Rockets 30 Wed @ Indiana 6:00 pm -- -- Nov 1 Fri @ Denver 8:00 pm -- -- 2 Sat Toronto 7:30 pm -- -- 5 Tue Seattle 7:30 pm -- -- 9 Sat Golden State 7:30 pm -- -- 12 Tue Portland 7:30 pm -- -- 15 Fri @ Phoenix 9:30 pm -- ESPN 17 Sun @ L.A. Lakers 8:30 pm -- -- 19 Tue Cleveland 7:30 pm -- -- 21 Thu @ Dallas 6:30 pm -- TNT 22 Fri Washington 7:30 pm -- -- 24 Sun @ L.A. Clippers 2:30 pm -- Telemundo 26 Tue @ Portland 9:00 pm -- -- 27 Wed @ Golden State 9:30 pm -- -- Back to back on the road 29 Fri @ Seattle 9:30 pm -- ESPN Dec 1 Sun @ Sacramento 8:00 pm -- -- 3 Tue San Antonio 7:30 pm -- -- 6 Fri @ New Orleans 7:30 pm -- -- 7 Sat Philadelphia 7:30 pm -- -- 10 Tue Sacramento 7:30 pm -- -- 13 Fri @ Memphis 7:00 pm -- -- 14 Sat L.A. Clippers
DearRock, Man I like your optimism! Push for top 4! I believe we have the talent I just don't think we have the experience...yet. But I am not going to be the one to say it can't happen because look at NJ last year and Philly the year before. Of course both of those teams play in the east (or is it the least?).
DearRock, I find it amusing that you didn't put the Laker game in bold print. Any game vs. the World Champs should be highlighted regardless of any super-optimism. Just my $0.02.
This is the second team lineup for the Kings. Pollard Wallace (only real weak link) Clark Turkey-glue Jackson Their second team would be very competitive as a starting unit. Im not saying the best. I take them over the Nuggets and Heat at least if not a few other teams. Regardless, until we prove otherwise, Kings are head and shoulders above us at this point.
DearRock - Here's a dose of reality for you. On November 19th of last season, the 6W-4L Rockets lineup of Francis, Mobley, Rice, Thomas, and Cato played the Webberless Kings - Bibby, Christie, Stojakovic, Pollard and Divac. The Kings won 113-77. The Webberless Kings were then 8-3 with wins over Seattle (Baker @ PF) and San Antonio (Duncan @ PF). The Webberless Kings repeated this feat in the Compaq Center on Nov. 27th. 89-84. (You will tell me that Francis & Mobley were DNP's and I will tell you Moochie and OT had 19 and 20 points respectively and that Bibby had only 2 assists while Peja had 5 and Vlade 4). The Kings defeated New Jersey (K-Mart @ PF) and Portland (Wallace @ PF) in between the two victories over the Rockets. Now, you want me to believe that: A) Bibby is more valuable than Webber? and B) If Bibby is greatly missed, the Rockets will be the only WC team to benefit? We will have to agree to disagree on this one.
Truth: I did not bold the LA game because it is a home game for us without the MVP/Diesel. I just think that I might as well forget this whole thing if a Shaqless Laker team, at home, is going to make me shake. What many are forgetting is that this rocket team is very explosive. It was last year, anytime we had close to a full complement which is less than what we have now. I know we have to still go out and do it but most of what this team can really do will be evident from 01/03 onwards, barring major injuries. By explosive I mean doing the kind of things that Tmo did the other night. It is not going to be him every night but we have quite a few guys that will drop a few on you before you know it, and Tmo is the least of them. I am talking about the game going along nicely and then all of a sudden a rocket drops ten on you in 2 minutes. All of a sudden a double digit lead. It will happen regularly this year and when it does it will be like opening up the flood gates. I saw NJ do it last year and we are a much better team than they were last year. They had two rookies make major contributions and we are hesitanting on whether ours will, if we need them to. It is really a pick your poison proposition for many of our opponents. Top 3 backcourt in the league. On a bad team, 40 pts a game from that tandem. There is an inside game. There is an outside game. There is low post defense. There is rebounding. There is major depth. Gater: Generally I follow your logic, but you will agree that Rice was useless at the time and MoT was not there and EG, Tmo, an improved KT, Mobes and Francis makes a big difference, not to mention the addition of Ming and Boki. As far as Bibby being as valuable as Webber, their value is much closer than you think.
Pollard Clark Wallace Turkoglu Bobby Jackson We're weak at the two, otherwise: Cato Griffin KT Boki/Torres Moochie We have a bench for the bench: Collier, T-Mo, Boki or Torres, Maddox, Tierre.. Our bench is pretty damn good too. Believe me, Steve will ABUSE the Kings without Bibby. Mobley, as we all know, can only be stopped by, that's right, CUTTINO MOBLEY. If we really run Bobby Jackson around, they're very thin at PG.
DearRock - I surely won't devalue Bibby - I love the guys game. But the bottomline for me is this. For most teams this would be a bigger problem than it is for the Kings. But unlike most teams, ALL of the Kings' rotation are good ball handlers and passers. This is true even down to Hedo and Pollard and maybe even Funderburke. Please observe that the 2002-03 Kings had three players in the Top 50 in assists/game. Bibby was only 27th...barely ahead of Moochie Norris. The other two? Christie and Divac.
Doug Christie is a sharp defensive player. I cant ever remember Mobley taking him to school. I still take the Kings second team over ours. Their second team has proven they can win games.
Do not forget that a much less-abled team like Utah took that Kings team to the brink, last year. The Kings will not only have to have Jackson answer to Francis and Moochie but they will also have to have Peja answer to KT, Rice and Tmo. That matchup by itself would require double teaming. If I am Rudy T, I would post him up all night. The Kings will be forced to play Webber at the 3. Don't worry it will come to pass very soon.
