Marty Mac's World: Sometimes things are better left unsaid

Quiet!

That's what we need right now from Kings coach Reggie Theus.

No more radio interviews, please. No more calling into radio stations, please.

If for no other reason, coach Theus, you have dug yourself a hole that has become a ditch and if you're not careful can become a full-fledged coach's grave site.

Unquestionably, the media was enamored with Theus' willingness to be media-friendly and answer any and all questions.

While that approach is good for the media, it's not always Theus' best friend. As much as media folk had problems with former coach Rick Adelman's sometimes anti-media persona, he never would have gotten caught up in what basically is a bunch of balderdash.

Theus has to realize his players and management really are the only people he needs to try to appease, sometimes unnaturally. Hooking up the media, as far as I'm concerned, is a distant third.

And it's difficult to understand why coaches and players (and perhaps that's people in general) either do not comprehend or recognize that the longer they speak, the more dumb stuff they usually say. Maybe we like to hear ourselves speak more than we want to admit.

However, Theus, among others, can be asked a simple question and over-talk the answer. Usually, Theus, and most of us, are better off when we keep it short and direct. Every question is not deserving of an answer. Every answer is not a good answer.

After reading Theus' comments regarding Ron Artest in Sam Amick's story a few days ago, I didn't think there was anything too inflammatory about them. That, however, was not how shooting guard Kevin Martin (who contacted Amick, not the other way around) viewed it and a particular comment about how Martin, basically, wasn't yet a player to whom the coach wanted to throw the ball to in "go-to" situations.

And that was one problem. One, "throw the ball to," was not specific enough and left a lot to interpretation. Theus said he was speaking about throwing the ball into the post and drawing a double team. Clearly, Artest has the best post game and is the one most capable of attracting a double team.

And Theus, from what I saw this season, was most comfortable giving the ball to Artest in clutch situations. In my opinion, Theus gave Artest the ball to a fault. Just because Artest wants the ball doesn't mean he has to get the ball.

Artest has to look at his game and spend much of the offseason realizing, if possible, that getting the job done in the clutch cannot include dribbling the ball six, eight, 10 times before getting off his shot.

Good defensive teams are not going to allow that to happen, more so than not. Artest needs to work on getting off his shot with one or two dribbles.

The way I saw things, Theus early in the season gave Martin a couple of opportunities to shine in "go-to" spots, it didn't go well and the coach went away from him. Then Martin got hurt – and that was that.

However, one cannot shine in those situations without the rock, and it appears Martin also would like opportunities to do his thing. It says here Martin deserves those opportunities and should, as the franchise's likely face for the next few years, be given the chance to see if he has the talent and heart to get the job done.

Yet this entire deal that crossed over into the airwaves would not have done so had Martin not been so sensitive.

And Theus only needed to defend himself to Martin or Kings basketball president Geoff Petrie.

When in doubt, folks, keep things on the low-low – and that's coming from someone whose job is to learn of those things.

About the writer:

• Call The Bee's Martin McNeal, (916) 326-5504.