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Wednesday, October 9
 
Indy did Divac a world of good

By Scott Howard-Cooper
Special to ESPN.com

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Here are five observations of the Sacramento Kings from training camp:

Vlade Divac
Vlade Divac came to camp in shape thanks to his stint at the World Championships.
1. Everyone arrived in good shape. More to the point, Vlade Divac arrived in good shape, answering one of the annual questions/concerns throughout his career. Playing for Yugoslavia in the World Championships over the summer, Divac found the right mix between working hard enough to start for the team that won the gold medal -- at least once the coach was struck with the brilliant notion (with the tournament already under way) that the second-best center in the Western Conference might be good enough to make the opening lineup for the national squad -- but without burning himself out for the NBA season. Rick Adelman will take it from here, watching Divac's minutes throughout the regular season to make sure Divac isn't toast for the playoffs. The same plan worked very well last season, even though Divac had a greater role than expected in the opening months because of Chris Webber's injury. In the end, Divac averaged 13.5 points and 9.3 in the postseason.

2. The only real lineup battle is more a continuation than a new development. Hidayet Turkoglu again tries to overthrow Doug Christie at shooting guard. It'll be quite a challenge, even with Turkoglu's offensive versatility, because Christie is still a demon defender and far superior to Turkoglu in sustaining energy and focus. The new encouraging sign for the Kings with Turkoglu, as if there hadn't been enough his first two seasons, is a committment to an offseason weight program that added about 15 pounds of muscle, mostly to the upper body, without a sign that the extra weight would negatively impact his mobility. "I don't see anything slowing him down at all," Adelman said. "He's a young guy with a big frame and room to grow. He's run the floor real well."

3. The second-best scoring team from last season, at 104.6 points per game, could be even better in 2002-03. Seizing on the comfort level of having a team that already understands the system, with Keon Clark the only projected newcomer, Adelman expanded the playbook. The alterations might not be noticeable to fans -- angles of passes, screens, etc. -- but could provide more versatility on offense.

4. Mike Bibby, coming off an impressive playoff run, has carried that momentum into camp. He looks typically sound, but also confident and more assertive than a year ago at this time. The reason is most likely a combination of having already been through this once with the Kings as well as the postseason.

5. There is no real roster uncertainty. The Kings have 13 guaranteed contracts and only one chance to grab a spot for opening night. Chances are good Brent Price will spend the entire season on the injured list, unless someone wants to trade for the reserve point guard since he is in the last year of his contract, and unofficially the last year of his career because of knee and back injuries. That puts the Kings at 12 players. It goes to 11 because Mateen Cleaves will also probably open on the injured list, creating one opening.

Scott Howard-Cooper, who covers the NBA for the Sacramento Bee, is a regular contributor to ESPN.com.









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