SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- This is bad. Very, very bad.

Mike Bibby, as happy in the background as in the backcourt, is suddenly more at the center in Sacramento than Vlade Divac. That means the spotlight and the contrasts to Jason Williams all over again, and that means two things he can do without.

He beat the past once and for all and the Mavericks, equally challenging competitors, even if Bibby never got into the comparison thing in the first place. Everyone else took care of that. He took care of Dallas, though. That part is for sure.

	Mike Bibby averaged 21.8 points a game in the semifinal series win over Dallas.

He was good. Very, very good.

His low-key personality won't go for this, but the point guard pushed the Sacramento Kings into the Western Conference final more than anyone. He averaged 21.8 points, 6.8 assists and 42.2 minutes a game and shot 45.3 percent against the Mavericks, on a team that went the last two-plus games without Peja Stojakovic. His baseline drive, capped by a layup with 12.2 seconds remaining in overtime, delivered victory in Game 4, a monumental win for the franchise even if it wasn't the clincher. That came two nights later when Bibby had 23 points and six assists in 44 minutes.

It was officially no longer about the past. The J-Will compare-and-contrast may have been an obvious reach at some point -- dramatically different playing styles, lightning-rod Williams as opposed to sedate Bibby -- but, in truth, it should have passed long ago. That the talk has come back at all, and hopefully not too much, is entirely a compliment to the successor: No one would be talking much about the Kings across the country today if they were on summer vacation.

It is, instead, about the today and the future, with Arco Arena getting ready to host a Western Conference final for the first time ever and Bibby getting ready to break the bank. He becomes a free agent in July, and while there was never any question about whether Sacramento wanted him and he wanted to stay, the money could have become an issue. But now he has come through in the playoffs and, well, management has to come through big time this summer.

Bibby did have a lot to prove heading into the postseason, after all. He was in his fourth season but playing in his first playoffs, breaking in with a championship contender at that. There were those nine NCAA tournament games over two seasons at Arizona, including the 1997 title run as a freshman and being named to the All-Tournament team in '98, and some who have been in the same situation say the college experience can have more pressure since it's one and done. However, Bibby himself dismissed that theory, realizing a race to 15 wins would be different than anything he had ever faced.

He was nervous in some ways. Others were skeptical, like one opposing coach who said, "That's what people try to do -- pressure up on him. But when you do that, you can get yourself in more trouble because they'll bring in Bobby Jackson, who's a better player anyway. It's like getting a guy in foul trouble on the Celtics and they bring in Kevin McHale. But I do think people feel like you can pressure up on him." So it was that his first playoff experience began.

	Expert vs. Novice
	Mike Bibby and his teammates have their work ut out for them as they try to reverse over two decades of playoff futility. The Kings have made just one appearance in the Western Conference Finals since the '80-81 season and won only two games in that appearance before being eliminated. The Lakers, on the other hand, have made 13 appearances in the Western Conference finals over that time and have won 11 of those series.
		Lakers	Kings
	Appearances	13	1
	Wins	45	2
	Win Pct.	.703	.333
	Series W-L	11-2	0-1
	>>Since '80-81 season

Worse still, it had to begin with John Stockton, a legend and still more than capable of adding to the legacy. Bibby, and the Kings as a whole, survived some scary moments, but Bibby's reward was a matchup with Steve Nash.

Nash is an All-Star. Bibby had just shot 41.9 percent and averaged 3.8 assists in 34.3 minutes against the Jazz. It was an obvious advantage for the Mavericks. Not only that, Dallas had a lethal scorer, Michael Finley, at shooting guard and Nick Van Exel, who could push the scoreboard himself or distribute, coming off the bench. The Kings had defensive-minded Doug Christie at shooting guard and sparkplug Jackson coming off the bench.

And then ...

Bibby shot 45.3 percent overall and 54.2 on 3-pointers and averaged 21.8 points, 6.8 assists and two turnovers. Christie played 40.2 minutes with a bad ankle, bad wrists, bad back and bad eye and contributed 11.8 points, 5.6 assists, 5.2 rebounds and 2.40 steals. Jackson started Game 4 in Dallas and helped finish the Mavericks everywhere, getting 13.6 points, including 26 on Saturday, and playing 31 minutes per outing.

Meanwhile, Nash shot 46.4 percent and got 18.6 points and 8.6 assists, Finley had 37, 28 and 26 points in the final three games and also averaged six rebounds and Van Exel shot just 36.5 percent overall and made one of 17 on 3-pointers. The Mavericks' backcourt was not terrible.

But that the Kings outplayed them at all there, by a little or a lot, was the issue. What was supposed to be a Dallas advantage had, in the end, become a prime factor behind the 4-1 series victory.

"It was huge," Kings coach Rick Adelman said. ‘'No doubt about it."

It was vindication.

"Of course," Jackson said. "When you say two guys are better than me and Mike Bibby, that's kind of a slap in our face. We work just as hard as they do. They're good offensive players, but weak defensive players. I'm just being honest."

Added Bibby: "The whole thing has got me motivated. I am ready for the Western Conference finals, and the Finals. Everyone gave the advantage to the Mavericks and that kind of motivated us. It really doesn't matter what people outside us think. We know what we are capable of doing."

They came, they saw, they concurred.

"I don't think it was a spoken thing," Christie said.

It was an understood thing.

"We didn't talk about it," Jackson said. "We didn't have to talk about it."

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