This team has underachieved all year long -- and you don't have to look much farther than their coach to see where to place the blame (although I'd say the players deserve their fair share as well).
I heard a very good explanation for why this talented team has struggled so much this year.
Franklin Edwards, an ex-King, gave this reason: The Kings had quite a roster change-over this season. Adelman has not been given an extention to coach beyond this year. As a result, you have the awkward combination of players possibly tuning out a lame-duck coach, and players not used to, or quite comfortable with, playing in Adelman's offensive system yet. So when things start to unravel, instead of keeping with the system and continuing to pass the ball and exploit the open man, they tend to fall back into their failsafe mode they are used to, which is more post up and one-on-one action.
While the arrival of Artest has greatly improved the defense (even Bibby is getting singled out for his defensive play of late!!), and his leadership filled a huge void with the team, he also is not yet comfortable with this offense, and Adelman has asked him to initiate it at times.
The King's offensive system, which they call the Princeton offense for assistent coach Pete Carill, takes some getting used to by players more comfortable playing in a typically structured NBA style of offense. Eventually, players tend to like it, as they each are going to get open looks at some point. But it also takes time to get comfortable with it, and players like Bonzi Wells, Sharif Abdur-Rahim, and Ron Artest have really only played in it for much less then a full season, due to injury or late season trades. They all agree it works great when they all buy into it and their success of late bears that out. But they also do not completely trust it if things go south, and they still tend to bail when that happens, as the second half of the Suns game and the entire Mavericks game showed.
This team has wayyy too much talent to barely be squeeking into the playoffs -- but are they going to go far? Nope! The chemistry problems far outweigh their talent level!
This is a typical rallying cry that others vent for talented teams not fulfilling their promise, but I have not seen any chemistry problems exhibited by King's players. While it certainly is true all these new teammates took a while to mesh with and understand their teammates, they never lacked having a "team" attitude. If the reference were to Adelman's lame-duck status, it hits closer to home. Subconsciously, Adelman's unknown future with the team may have a bigger impact on the players then anyone with the team wants to admit.
A team with Mike Bibby, SAR, Brad Miller and Peja (and now Artest) -- then throw in some role players like Bonzi Wells, Kenny Thomas, and a couple of young shooting guards showing a little promise -- the BIGGER question is why hasn't this team been playing MUCH better all year long?
Is Bibby one of the top 5 PG's in the league?
Peja is definately one of the better shooters in the league.
Brad Miller is definately on the top 5 center list, IMO.
SAR is definately a gifted rebounder/scorer.
Artest is truly a top five defender in the League, and Bibby, while not 'thinking' clearly at all times on the court, is a terrific point guard none the less. Miller has his moments as well, but oddly disappears from any purpose on the court when you need him most. Peja is possibly the best shooter in the League, but I have to say he lacks enough heart to ever warrant consideration as a top player, and he was clearly unmotivated playing for the Kings before the trade. SAR's move to the bench was as important as anything that turned this team around, because Thomas was pouting in that role, and speaking of Thomas, if he were only an inch or two taller, the Kings would be extremely threatening. As it is.......
The emergence of Kevin Martin (thanks to Pete Carill and Ron Artest, in particular), has been another reason for the King's improvement. The Kings rarely lost after this kid started to play well, and that still holds true up to now. Both he and 'Cisco Garcia are really atheletic players on a team with no other help in that regard. But both got hurt and a little air was let out of the team because of it. Now, both are getting healthy, so it adds some additional intrique to how effective their playoff run will be.
BTW, Artest did it again. After the Hornet win put them in the playoffs, Ron "guaranteed" three times, that the Kings would be victorious in the first round.
Oh, brother!!
