Jomal this is not to rub salt in the wound but does this not solidify Adleman as being an obstacle to winning a title? While none of us was handing it to the Kings when they were 45-13 (or whatever they were without Me-Webb) they were as front running as anyone. It was a no brainer to keep things as they were and relegate Webber to sub. Instead, well we know what happened. I find it hard to believe the Maloofs *forced* this on Adleman. If they did and he caved in that is just as sad and he just as accountable IMO. Nope i recall Adleman saying CWebb was the plan, 45-13 machine be crap canned.
I'd like to see Adleman become a Tex Winters type O coordinator with the Spurs. I know its not going to happen.
Could a logical explaination be that Webber has and continues to toke heavily? I'm not being sarcastic. Really would that make a whole lot of sense in his attitude and game?
First off, westkoast, I never will question Webber's committment regarding his workouts and attitude about the game. He may still toke once in a while, but it never has affected his approach to the game and taking the time to beef up in the gym and practice. He does both regularly and with apparent aplomb. The reason he could come back and play at all last year when so may others could not who went through the same procedure, is a tribute to his own efforts, away from the team and generally with only his trainer around to watch him do it.
That he was still not physically ready to stand up to the likes of Duncan and Garnett was made very clear to all but his coach. Adelman committed his team to defer to Webber and it cost the team not only some playoff games, but possibly the unity for which the Kings were reknown. So, yes Reality, the coach is responsible for not coaching his team properly under the circumstances.
But the 45-13 record could just as easily been a house of cards anyway, built up from the benefits of a weak schedule up to that point. A tougher schedule in the last part of the season, Peja's obvious exhaustion from playing the season without a viable backup, the loss due to injury of Bobby Jackson, and Brad Miller's nagging injuries (a bigger factor then the team let on), coincided with Webber's return, so who knows. Timing was such that all we really saw was Webber coming back that changed the King's fortunes.
But Webber being Webber, all he dwells on is his own world and how people perceive him. A few fans (rightly so) booed him during a particularly bad stretch, so now all of Sacramento is against him. A teammate who never works out in the gym but contributes greatly to the unselfish passing for which the team is reknown is now accused of being the cause of too much jocularity in the locker room and a perceived attitude of not wanting to win it as bad as he does. Are the two concepts even related?
He talks about having teammates from the hood who will go to war with him, but ignores the fact that two of the European teammates he accuses of being soft actually
COME from a war-torn country and may know a bit more about what real conflict is all about. Humor has its medicinal benefits as well, or doesn't Chris understand that? Another teammate, Songaila, comes from a country that was jackbooted under a repressive communist regime for 51 years until freed.
Does Webber's 'hood really compare? His 'hood problems are created by lazy gang members who would rather destroy the hopes of their neighbors rather then utilize the opportunities given to them by just living in the United States. The previous governments of Lithuania and Yugoslavia would not have tolerated these gangs; they would not have tolerated
ANY form of freedoms available to Chris and his so-called 'hood compatriots.
How would Webber and his 'hoodmates handle playing basketball with the same oppression imposed on his European teammates?