You don't have to be the visiting professor from Stats Corner to notice that since the turn of the calendar year, we have seen a remarkable uptick in Mike Bibby's shooting ability (tonight excepted), and in the opposite reaction, a hesitancy from Kevin Martin to dominate the floor.

Maybe it's the d**n ball.

The Sacramento Bee says that with the return of the "new" ball, same as the "old" ball, Bibby is feeling his stroke, and Martin is instead feeling nostalgic for the synthetic ball used for the first part of the season.

With that said, note how Bibby's knocked down half his three point shots with the new ball in 2007. Tonight he was 3-6, keeping up the pace. From 2 point land, he was 1-5.

New rule… Bibby never shoots inside the arc. As for K-Mart, he needs to learn to love the leather if this team is ever going to win again.