Kings row

Sporting News, The, Dec 4, 1995

The November 16 game between the Kings and Trail Blazers reflects everything that is good -- and bad -- about Sacramento's surprising start.

With 35 seconds remaining at Portland and the Kings trailing, 102-101, All-Star guard Mitch Richmond breaks past Blazers defender Harvey Grant, moves to the basket and sinks a fall-away 19-foot jump shot with 22.4 seconds left.

Lionel Simmons' free-throw shooting with two-tenths of a second on the clock ices the game. When it's all over. the Kings have survived eight fourth-quarter lead changes and have broken a 23-game losing streak in Portland with a 105-102 victory. Richmond finishes with 25 points. The team shoots better than 50 percent from the field.

The game symbolizes how different things are in Sacramento this season. It's nearly December, and the Kings are perched atop the standings in the Pacific Division. (For you NBA novices out there, that's the same division of the Lakers and Suns and Sonics.) One reason for the surprisingly fast start: Coach Garry St. Jean, in his fourth season at the helm, has molded this team into an intimidating, physical presence, a team that relies on defense.

"You look out there and you see Brian Grant and Michael Smith and Mitch Richmond, and then you throw Byron Houston and Sarunas (Marciulionis) on the floor ... and we haven't even gotten to Corliss Williamson yet," St. Jean says. "If people think we're a physical team now, good. ... We play hard and we play defense, because you can be physical within the rules of the game -- setting picks, getting rebounds, boxing out."

The Kings also have depth. With bench players like Simmons, Marciulionis, Houston and Duane Causwell, the reserves have outscored the opponents' bench in seven of their first 10 games.

About the only thing this team doesn't have is a quality point guard, which explains why, in that Portland game, the Blazers' Rod Strickland was able to alternately light up Bobby Hurley and Tyus Edney for 23 points and 12 assists.

So despite an 84 start, the best since 1982-83, the talk of Sacramento is the point-guard position. Edney vs. Hurley. Hurley vs. Edney.

It has come to this for Bobby Hurley: The man you used to love to hate wants nothing more than to be just that again.

No more applause for merely walking onto the court. Do not suggest he has become a likable character. All Hurley wants to do is play well enough to be hated again.

"That's always been the case," Hurley says. "My fans loved me and everywhere I went they hated me. But last year it seemed like everywhere we went people were applauding because I made it back to the court and everything.

One year ago, it was enough simply to be playing again. On December 12,1993, Hurley was one month into a promising rookie campaign when he suffered life-threatening injuries in a two-car accident. His injuries were so severe he spent eight hours in surgery, eight days in intensive care and saw his weight drop to 140.

But he recovered enough to reported to training camp the next October and appeared ready to challenge Spud Webb last season. He played well early, but the long season took its toll. By the end, he was third on the depth chart behind Randy Brown and suffering from a severe blow to his confidence.

To Hurley, the season was a wash. But to the fans and the media, Hurley was an inspiration. He was a medical miracle, a testament to the amazing recuperative powers of human beings. But that identity grew tiresome quickly, especially for someone as competitive as Hurley.

"I got worse as the year went on, that's what discouraged me a lot," Hurley says. "I think I was just happy to be out there. I don't think I was as tough as I had been in the past. .. Things weren't going my way, I was slumping a little bit and kind of got down on myself and kind of dug myself a hole I couldn't get out of."

So this was supposed to be Hurley's season, with Webb gone in a draft-day trade to Atlanta and Brown signed as a free agent by the Bulls. But he has struggled, and while Hurley is still the starter; Edney is getting more minutes. Entering the week, Hurley is averaging 19.2 minutes- per game; Edney 24.3. Last Saturday's victory over the Lakers was a clear indication the tide is turning in Edney's favor. Edney played 38 minutes -- including the entire second half -- while Hurley started but played only nine minutes.

Now, Hurley finds himself at a career crossroads -- at the age of 24. Is he a player, or is he destined to be better known as an accident victim?

Edney, meanwhile, has been a surprise as a second-round pick, 47th overall. The point guard from UCLA is spending extra time in the gym, working on the one weakness in his game -- the outside shot. Edney conducts shooting exercises daily, no matter how intense practice is. That's because most everything else in Edney's game is there. Poise. Me ability to distribute and create. His trademark quickness. Edney easily is the team's quickest player.

That's no surprise. When we last saw Edney, he was helping his UCLA teammates celebrate the NCAA championship and played a big part in helping the Bruins get there. Who can forget his mad dash through the porous Missouri defense in the closing seconds of the second-round game of the NCAA Tournament?