Interesting Vivek article.

[Chubbs]

Wow, he's much much worse than I thought. He is COMPLETELY full of it. It's a flat out lie everyone told him to trade Cousins. Do not believe a word this man says. He lies, about nearly everything. Little things ("when i was a kid and Neil Armstrong landed on the moon") to all the numerous half truths and lies in that article.

He's a professional BS artist. American's should have a fair amount of experience detecting that at this point. But, like always, the kool aid drinkers must have their kool aid.

Disgusting. Just disgusting. I believe those who say nothing has changed. It hasn't. I've never, not for a moment, got the feeling things had changed. You know why? People like him don't change.

This franchise is doomed until he sells.

If y'all are buying this nonsense then I don't know what to say. Who didn't he throw under the bus? It's everyone's fault but me. The dude doesn't even realize the only smart thing he did was hire Michael Malone.

Sorry, that article made me mad enough to check in on the misery that is being a King's fan. I'll go back into my hole now. I just can't do this anymore. We live through the end of Maloof era to get this narcissistic lunatic?

One final thing. Vivek did not "save the franchise." The fans, and KJ, for all his flaws, did. Vivek just stepped in and took the credit.

 

[SacTownKid]

Well, basically in his own words Geoff Petrie expressed his desires to not "be here" at the time. I really don't see a ton to be concerned about with the interview myself. He didn't really blast anyone, and sometimes history is subject to ones own interpretation of what actually occurred.

This kind of feels like Geoff Petrie might be looking for another gig or something. Why come out with the monday morning QB'ing and touting that he scouted The Greek Freak? Yeah, well in a cash strapped period you also signed Jason Thompson to a nice fat extension. That proved to be just as hard to deal with as time went on as not drafting someone else.

I'm not sure why Petrie is being so defensive honestly. That comment about his experience and read on Vivek as a person when they met speaks volumes. Sounds like Mr. Smarty pants number 1 met his match with Mr. 80 gigs in a battle of elitist doucheyness.

 

[itzcoatl]

Well, basically in his own words Geoff Petrie expressed his desires to not "be here" at the time. I really don't see a ton to be concerned about with the interview myself. He didn't really blast anyone, and sometimes history is subject to ones own interpretation of what actually occurred.

This kind of feels like Geoff Petrie might be looking for another gig or something. Why come out with the monday morning QB'ing and touting that he scouted The Greek Freak? Yeah, well in a cash strapped period you also signed Jason Thompson to a nice fat extension. That proved to be just as hard to deal with as time went on as not drafting someone else.

I'm not sure why Petrie is being so defensive honestly. That comment about his experience and read on Vivek as a person when they met speaks volumes. Sounds like Mr. Smarty pants number 1 met his match with Mr. 80 gigs in a battle of elitist doucheyness.

In listening to the show on 1320, I think what he was saying was that Vivek came in arrogantly with all the data and was not willing to listen to Geoff. Geoff touched very briefly on analytics and NBA 3.0 and seemed to suggest that teams are made of many moving parts and that it's not just about numbers on a screen. He mentioned there is certain experience and wisdom needed and I think what he was saying is that he thought Giannis moved and was creative in a way that other people weren't. Geoff's whole interview was hard to follow and was kind of classic Geoff in that he talked quite a bit and said not a whole lot. But I didn't get the impression that he was canvassing for a job at all. I don't think throwing your old boss under the bus is a good job-seeking strategy.

 

[KingsFanSince85]

In listening to the show on 1320, I think what he was saying was that Vivek came in arrogantly with all the data and was not willing to listen to Geoff.

I can certainly buy this. But as I stated before, considering the state of the franchise at the time and previous poor drafts and roster moves, can you really blame him for not listening? I'm not sure I'd listen to the guy that just drafted Jimmer Fredette over Kawhi Leonard and Klay Thompson and Thomas Robinson over Damien Lilliard and Andre Drummond either.

I think what he was saying is that he thought Giannis moved and was creative in a way that other people weren't.

Again I say, why mention the supposed 1 good draft suggestion in 3 years? People should be less disgusted that they missed out on Giannis and more upset about the other misses when -- you know -- Geoff was still GM and actually made the selections. He can talk about what he might have done 3 years after the fact had he still been around all he wants. We have no idea whether it would have actually played out that way. For example, he took Thomas Robinson when things changed during the draft.

DeMarcus was really the only good draft pick he had in later years. Possibly Tyreke depending upon your POV.

 

[King Baller]

I can certainly buy this. But as I stated before, considering the state of the franchise at the time and previous poor drafts and roster moves, can you really blame him for not listening? I'm not sure I'd listen to the guy that just drafted Jimmer Fredette over Kawhi Leonard and Klay Thompson and Thomas Robinson over Damien Lilliard and Andre Drummond either.



Again I say, why mention the supposed 1 good draft suggestion in 3 years? People should be less disgusted that they missed out on Giannis and more upset about the other misses when -- you know -- Geoff was still GM and actually made the selections. He can talk about what he might have done 3 years after the fact had he still been around all he wants. We have no idea whether it would have actually played out that way. For example, he took Thomas Robinson when things changed during the draft.

DeMarcus was really the only good draft pick he had in later years. Possibly Tyreke depending upon your POV.

As noted by Geoff in his Deadspin interview Isaiah Thomas and Hassan Whiteside were also drafted in that era along with Boogie and Tyreke.

 

[King Baller]

Interview is here--> http://deadspin.com/geoff-petrie-la...source=deadspin_twitter&utm_medium=socialflow

 

[Big Cuz 15]

Wow, he's much much worse than I thought. He is COMPLETELY full of it. It's a flat out lie everyone told him to trade Cousins. Do not believe a word this man says. He lies, about nearly everything. Little things ("when i was a kid and Neil Armstrong landed on the moon") to all the numerous half truths and lies in that article.

He's a professional BS artist. American's should have a fair amount of experience detecting that at this point. But, like always, the kool aid drinkers must have their kool aid.

Disgusting. Just disgusting. I believe those who say nothing has changed. It hasn't. I've never, not for a moment, got the feeling things had changed. You know why? People like him don't change.

This franchise is doomed until he sells.

If y'all are buying this nonsense then I don't know what to say. Who didn't he throw under the bus? It's everyone's fault but me. The dude doesn't even realize the only smart thing he did was hire Michael Malone.

Sorry, that article made me mad enough to check in on the misery that is being a King's fan. I'll go back into my hole now. I just can't do this anymore. We live through the end of Maloof era to get this narcissistic lunatic?

One final thing. Vivek did not "save the franchise." The fans, and KJ, for all his flaws, did. Vivek just stepped in and took the credit.

THANK YOU for the post and keeping it real.

 

[ParniValjak]

I am surprised nobody else fingered this:



That's gotta leave a mark. And is kind of a haha summation of the interaction between the old guard and the arrogance of the analytics newbs. I suspect similar incidents may be why our two previous franchise players of the 90s/00s are essentially estranged from the organization.


But in any case Petrie is not here any more. And if Smart had stayed I would probably now be in jail for flying into town and running him over with my rental car. So Petrie's response here isn't helpful or positive for us at all. In fact my concern would be that it could make things more difficult for Vlade.

Look that is all fair and good but the cheap shot that Vivek fired at Petrie and his staff was really unwarranted and is the cause of the crap storm that is once again created around this franchise.

I can understand that Vivek wanted to put his side of the story after copping a lot of crap over the years (fairly or unfairly) but taking a shot at Petrie and his staff about not being there for the workouts etc.... that was taking it a bit too far. We as fans of the team clearly remember Petrie helping with the workouts and scouting until PDA was signed. There are photos and videos online of Petrie and coach Malone workout out draft prospects along with other members of Petrie's staff. Coach Malone in is pressers consistently praised Petrie and his staff for their professionalism and helping him with the draft process until the new management arrived.

All of a sudden, Vivek to deflect ANY blame from himself is heaping crap on long standing members of the Sacramento Kings who could not have been any more professional about it if they tried. Hell if I was in Petrie's position I would have told Vivek to shove it where the sun don't shine and walk out. We can question his decision around team especially later in his tenure but at the very least Geoff Petrie deserves some respect for the way he carried himself during the ownership transition or the very least for giving us a the best decade of basketball that this team and Sacramento have every seen.

Vivek certainly went too far and if anything he just proved to me that he is one of those idiots that are NEVER wrong and always point the finger at someone else to deflect the blame. Be a man, put your hand up and say yes I have ****ed up, I have learnt from it and I will do my absolute best to make sure that we are not going to make the same mistakes again. Instead all he did was point he finger and deflect and yet again created a more negative perception about the team and ownership that we had previously.

 

[Tetsujin]

This is the part that hurts.

While Geoff Petrie had his faults, being able to identify perimeter talent was definitely not among them.

 

[KingsFanSince85]

As noted by Geoff in his Deadspin interview Isaiah Thomas and Hassan Whiteside were also drafted in that era along with Boogie and Tyreke.

I read that too. But I think it's quite silly to count Hassan Whiteside as a successful pick considering his game never developed or materialized in Sacramento. In fact, he was out of the league for a while until finally catching on a couple seasons back.

Isaiah was a fantastic pick, though. No doubt.

 

[Jimbob]

Im not impressed by Petrie, he did an absolutely craap job his last several years regardless of the Maloofs input.
Giannis was in the 2013 draft, most everyone was ecstatic Ben fell to us. CJ McCollum was still on board and many had us taking him.
Bringing in Giannis, who turned out to be the 15th pick, for a workout means nothing. It doesnt mean he would have taken him.
He could have even traded down for him but his previous Jimmer trade down was a disaster so its all could have.....BS
Vivek just needs to STFU, but his ego is hurt after all the bad rap he's taken.

 

[Tetsujin]

Im not impressed by Petrie, he did an absolutely craap job his last several years regardless of the Maloofs input.
Giannis was in the 2013 draft, most everyone was ecstatic Ben fell to us. CJ McCollum was still on board and many had us taking him.
Bringing in Giannis, who turned out to be the 15th pick, for a workout means nothing. It doesnt mean he would have taken him.
He could have even traded down for him but his previous Jimmer trade down was a disaster so its all could have.....BS
Vivek just needs to STFU, but his ego is hurt after all the bad rap he's taken.

Considering he wasn't the GM in that draft, that'd be quite the accomplishment.

 

[Jimbob]

Considering he wasn't the GM in that draft, that'd be quite the accomplishment.

Im aware of this. I refer to Petrie bringing up the moot point that if he remained in the GM role Giannis would have been worked out.

I see this as an attempt to make himself look like a better evaluator of talent than he actually was. Ten plus years in the draft related to mostly poor choices lies more on Petrie and the Maloofs than the current management.

Im not the biggest Vivek supporter, in fact I wish he had just ate his pride and avoided the interview. Still outside of Petries observations about tech guys, hedge fund managers, and analytics influence in the modern NBA the rest is just senseless.

 

[Jimbob]

I can certainly buy this. But as I stated before, considering the state of the franchise at the time and previous poor drafts and roster moves, can you really blame him for not listening? I'm not sure I'd listen to the guy that just drafted Jimmer Fredette over Kawhi Leonard and Klay Thompson and Thomas Robinson over Damien Lilliard and Andre Drummond either.



Again I say, why mention the supposed 1 good draft suggestion in 3 years? People should be less disgusted that they missed out on Giannis and more upset about the other misses when -- you know -- Geoff was still GM and actually made the selections. He can talk about what he might have done 3 years after the fact had he still been around all he wants. We have no idea whether it would have actually played out that way. For example, he took Thomas Robinson when things changed during the draft.

DeMarcus was really the only good draft pick he had in later years. Possibly Tyreke depending upon your POV.

All well put. If I had acknowledged your take on Petrie's irrelevant reference to Giannis first, I might have avoided my own ramblings.

 

[KingsFanSince85]

Vivek certainly went too far and if anything he just proved to me that he is one of those idiots that are NEVER wrong and always point the finger at someone else to deflect the blame. Be a man, put your hand up and say yes I have ****ed up, I have learnt from it and I will do my absolute best to make sure that we are not going to make the same mistakes again. Instead all he did was point he finger and deflect and yet again created a more negative perception about the team and ownership that we had previously.

I agree with this for the most part. He did acknowledge making some early mistakes, but also did a fair share of finger pointing. Not what you should be doing as leader. That's the mindset of corporate america wherein top execs look to cut the bottom tier to cover mistakes they made themselves. If he doesn't learn to shoulder the blame himself, no matter who was at fault, he's never going to be a good NBA owner.

 

[PurpleHaze]

Ranadive apologizes!

http://www.sacbee.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/ailene-voisin/article108563777.html

 

[KingsFanSince85]

I fully understand that it’s a huge privilege to own a basketball team, and as chairman of the ownership, the buck stops with me. I accept responsibility for everything. All the mistakes are my mistakes.

Perhaps he's learning. Hopefully, anyway.

 

[Jimbob]

Ranadive apologizes!

http://www.sacbee.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/ailene-voisin/article108563777.html

This, in my opinion was actually a good article by Voisin. Surprise, surprise.

 

[KingsFan80]

I honestly don't have a problem with him coming in and letting everyone go. That is more than likely standard practice. Was it professional to say what he did about Petrie? No, but it is a business and at the time everyone was very depressed about the state of the Kings. Everyone thought the team was gone to Seattle.

It is hard to say negative words about Vivek because he did save the team from moving. My issue with him is more the moves he made after taking Ownership. First his dealings with Malone - Hire him before GM, then fire him which was a bad move--then PDA was an average at best GM. He fires PDA and hires Vlade, who is not qualified to be an NBA GM at all. Vivek even admitted in that article he is an Sacramento legend. He forgets this was as a player, not a GM, just because you were a loved player doesn't make you an NBA GM.

 

[Bricklayer]

He forgets this was as a player, not a GM, just because you were a loved player doesn't make you an NBA GM.

Actually in a lot of cases it kinda does. Any number of former player GMs took over with minimal front office experience. Joe Dumars won a title in Detroit without any at all. Danny Ferry had one year as a scout or something with the Spurs, then took over the Cavs for LeBron's first run. Steve Kerr was hired as Gm in Phoenix with no background. Danny Ainge and Larry Bird each had 2 years as a coach, none as a front office guy. Vlade fits in very well into that tradition. Smart guy, tons of NBA and international experience, and oh, was merely running Serbia's entire Olympic system before we brought him back.

And Vlade's done a fine job proving that paradigm can work once again. The team is in a far better place now than when he took over. He's bonded with our star. Fixed the coaching situation. Cleaned up our salary situation to the point we have no bad contracts.

 

[KingsFanSince85]

And Vlade's done a fine job proving that paradigm can work once again. The team is in a far better place now than when he took over. He's bonded with our star. Fixed the coaching situation. Cleaned up our salary situation to the point we have no bad contracts.

Not to get the topic going in a completely different direction, but I agree that Vlade has done a pretty good job thus far -- especially considering the mess he inherited. He certainly hasn't done a poor job. It's kind of irked me that the media narrative outside of Sacramento is that Vlade hasn't done a good job. IMO, that's unfair because the guy hasn't been on the job all that long. Most of the things being mocked weren't done under his leadership.

His draft selections are still TBD and his FA moves have been ok. Some good, some not so good. Many didn't like the draft swap move, but that still has to be played out fully.

This season will be key to determining whether Vlade really has a future as a GM.

 

[Padrino]

Ranadive apologizes!

http://www.sacbee.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/ailene-voisin/article108563777.html

this has gotten a bit buried by the recent ty lawson news, but i think it's worth a moment's time. in my initial reaction to vivek's initial interview with sam amick, i wrote:

i'd prefer it if [vivek] just said, "look, i've gotten a few things right since assuming ownership of the team, and i've gotten more than a few things wrong. i'm learning better what it takes to be an nba owner, and i intend to do my best for sacramento kings fans from here on out."

and after his amick interview, vivek now says:

I wanted to sincerely apologize to Geoff Petrie and his team. I meant no disrespect. I have the utmost respect for what they have done for the franchise and what they have accomplished. I fully understand that it’s a huge privilege to own a basketball team, and as chairman of the ownership, the buck stops with me. I accept responsibility for everything. All the mistakes are my mistakes.

big ups to vivek for taking it on the chin. this is the kind of owner that i prefer, one who can accept responsibility for the franchise's failings even when he's not entirely to blame. no need to deflect. no need to strike a defensive pose. the buck stops here, and let's get it right next time. so while it took another media pile-on for him to find a bit of contrition, and while there's no guarantee that his approach to his ownership role has changed for the better, it's still a positive sign.

 

[kingsboi]

this has gotten a bit buried by the recent ty lawson news, but i think it's worth a moment's time. in my initial reaction to vivek's initial interview with sam amick, i wrote:



and after his amick interview, vivek now says:



big ups to vivek for taking it on the chin. this is the kind of owner that i prefer, one who can accept responsibility for the franchise's failings even when he's not entirely to blame. no need to deflect. no need to strike a defensive pose. the buck stops here, and let's get it right next time. so while it took another media pile-on for him to find a bit of contrition, and while there's no guarantee that his approach to his ownership role has changed for the better, it's still a positive sign.

The questions I have in regards to that Vivek apology is how sincere it is? Did he just come out and tell people what they want to hear? did the majority owner group maybe have a say at him that he should come out publicly and put the blame on himself and not the Kings organization as a whole? Too many holes left to be filled....I don't want to sit here and say it is or isn't a honest apology, this could be another chapter in the book of Vivek in combating criticism his own way. All that is irrelevant as long as he stops meddling IMO, his apology doesn't have to be sincere, just let Vlade and company do their jobs without zero say is all I ask.