It does seem like the wheels were comming off the Kings last year. Year after year the Kings seem to make the perfect move in player personnel. Getting Webber and Vlade as their core looked brilliant. The acquisition of Bibby seemed to be the key peice to make a serious title run. They added quality verterans like Christie and the Jackson. The addition of Brad Miller seemed to extend their window of opportunity for a title since it seemed Vlade was on the decline.
This year they are without Webber, Vlade, Christie and BOTH Jackson. While they've mananged to hold things together better than the Lak....err....uhm... the worst case scenario, they are still a shell of their former selves.
Still there is hope to go deep into the playoffs. If Miller can get back to his level of play in Indy and SAR can step in and make a solid contribution it's a good team. Had they not lost Mobley I'd say they had a shot at upsetting ONE of the two big horses, namely PHX.
Well, WoW, I am <ahem> somewhat <urp>, ah, in, you know, the "A" word with you (that would be be..... :drunk: in AGREEMENT)
But Petrie pulling the right players out of no where hasn't been enough. The problem lies elsewhere.
Playoff coaching.
I find no fault with Adelman developing the most competitive and offensive-minded team that the NBA has seen over the last six years, consistently pushing the competition during the regular season. But come playoff time, he shortens his rotation and essentially kills off his best players, who just completed an 82 game grind of a schedule. When injuries inevitably hit, you get a rusty player trying to catch up to playoff stanima immediately. By the fourth quarter of games, his starters who are still healthy are all sagging under the relentless onslaught of fresh players being thrown at them all game long by more astute playoff coaching.
Mobley is a more interesting issue.
This is what I have heard happens in Sacramento at the start of the off-season. They have a group meeting (at The Palms, in Vegas) with Adelman, Petrie, and the Maloofs. Petrie tells everyone what the salary landscape is going to be like and puts out the guestimate of the new cap, then listens to Adelman give his wish list. The Maloofs then tell Petrie the limit he can spend to achieve Adelman's wishes, and what Geoff also thinks would help the team. Petrie is not authorized to go beyond that limit without an okay from the Maloofs, but up to that limit, they leave the entire basketball decison with Geoff, including trades to achieve the goal.
Geoff, as we now know, wanted two players for the Kings. (There were others, some of whom he got, but they don't matter as much).
Turns out, and you can take this any way you want because I have yet to see how it all will play out going into the season, the two players were Bonzi Wells and Abdur-Rahim. And he got them both. This, of course, meant he was not going to pursue Mobley, directly due to the Maloof's instructions about the limits to which Petrie could resign him. That put the Kings right out of the market for the Cat from the onset and there was never going to be an offer made. Also, Mobley told them he was not coming back anyway, so this was not much a debate for very long - the Kings were never going to overpay for him to exceed the cap and his interests were to play near a movie town, like LA.
The Jimmy Jackson decision was strictly based on this Maloof salary constraint, so it turned into the same thing, except that Jackson
DID want to resign with the Kings.
Divac told the Maloofs, and Petrie, and Adelman, that he was interested in playing nearer his LA home if he could, so was unlikely going to come back regardless. Petrie did have some money to offer, with the Maloof's blessing because they wanted Vlade back as well. But to let you know, it was Vlade's decision not to take that offer to come back, not anyone in the Kings' organization. The money was reasonable, but the Lakers offered a bit more and he wanted to go to LA or he probably would have resigned up here.
Webber was becoming a very visable liability on defense. He simply was not going to score nearly enough to overcome his inability to stop anyone on the other team from doing whatever they wanted. On a team that played reasonable team defense, this could have been compensated for, maybe. On the Kings???
We got some good players back, but we were not going to get better with any of these guys taking starter minutes at center or forward. As bench components, however,they look much better.
Bobby Jackson was the sacrifice we made to get Wells, and boy am I nervous about this acquisition above all others. Bonzi may be in his contract year and therefore will need to play on his best behavior, but seriously, do any of you think a leopard like him will change his spots? I am hoping he is just a one-year deal and Petrie lets him go when Wells is looking for that long-term deal next summer. He is a two guard, afterall. The NBA is loaded with a good number of those, plus our last two #1 draft picks are both best suited as two's. We can rent Bonzi for the one year in which he really has to rein in his 'tude.
However, losing Bobby Jackson.......... He has always wanted to start regularly in the NBA and he may get the chance now. But what did the Kings give up with his trade to Memphis? I totally agree that this one is going to hurt the Kings. Bobby was a force off the bench (which I feel he is better suited to do then start), though his body is starting to crack from the punishment the NBA inflicts on players who play the game like Jackson does. I personnally hope he stays healthy after three down years for him.
Overall, I feel close to how I did going into the season last year, when I had no clue as to how they were going to perform with the changes. I can venture that Adelman once again will get the most out of his new players, probably exceed everyone's expectations, including mine, because the history (let's play that game with the Kings as well) has shown Adelman is a player's coach, for the most part and if anyone can get a smile out of playing time from Thomas and Wells, it surely will be Rick.
But this team is not built for competing with the best of the West come the playoffs, and the same history tells us Adelman is not the coach to get them to the Western finals healthy and intact. Beat up with an extended injury list is more likely.
