[NEWS] BEE: Abdur-Rahim fills in admirably at center

#1
http://www.sacbee.com/351/story/72666.html

Abdur-Rahim fills in admirably at center

By Scott Howard-Cooper - Bee Staff Writer

Last Updated 12:48 am PST Tuesday, November 7, 2006
Story appeared in SPORTS section, Page C6

[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]By the second quarter Monday night, all pretense was gone.

Mike Bibby was in, Kevin Martin was in, John Salmons was in. Three guards, although Salmons plays some small forward. Two true forwards, Maurice Taylor and Kenny Thomas, were in.

The center, Brad Miller, was out. Way out.


Hours after announcing Miller would miss at least four weeks because of torn tissue in the arch of his left foot, the Kings got their first look at life without a true center in the rotation and decided against faking it. They went small, using three guards and two forwards for much of the 93-81 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves in the home opener as Shareef Abdur-Rahim took Miller's spot in the starting lineup and no one took Miller's spot in reality.

The opponent, without an imposing center itself, helped. But so will most teams the Kings will face in the next month, which isn't the good fortune of convenient timing as much as life for pretty much everyone in NBA '06-07. Have Lilliputians, will travel.

The Kings don't face Shaquille O'Neal until Dec. 7, right around the time Miller could be returning, although he also could be weeks away. They don't see Yao Ming until Jan. 13. They just got Ben Wallace last Friday and don't have to contend with him again until Feb. 8. Those were the three all-league centers last season.

The dropoff is enough from there that the Kings aren't too worried they'll have to peel the 6-foot-9 Abdur-Rahim or Taylor, another converted power forward at 6-9, off the court at the end of the night. They actually might go a while without relying on their only true healthy center, Vitaly Potapenko, in a meaningful situation, Potapenko having played zero minutes the first four games.

"I think Shareef's definitely a known," coach Eric Musselman said. "We know he's going to play hard; we know he's going to score. The unknown is what he's going to do as a (center)."

Monday, Abdur-Rahim went 41 minutes in his first start since Dec. 26 and contributed 13 points and seven rebounds. Taylor, signed early in training camp with the expectation of playing him at center, got five minutes.

"It's not like it's something I haven't done before," said Abdur-Rahim, downplaying the moment.

True, he played there enough last season to consider it common ground, but now it apparently will be as the starting center. So much for the adjustment period that supposedly just began.

"None," he said. "I don't really think there's any adjustment."

Not for him. Not for the Kings, either, at least for a night.
[/FONT]