Ailene Voisin: Time to start over - Kings' act is tired
http://www.sacbee.com/351/story/111613.html
By Ailene Voisin - Bee Sports Columnist
Last Updated 12:18 am PST Monday, January 22, 2007
Story appeared in SPORTS section, Page C5
Print | E-Mail | Comments (0)
OK, so, enough already. Enough of these Kings already.
Concede defeat and get on with the offseason. Construct a new team, and build a new arena while you're at it. From a marketing perspective alone, this is the perfect time to blow up both of them -- figuratively speaking, of course -- turn the soil and start from scratch. The playoff itch is disappearing after eight consecutive seasons anyway, for reasons confounding and infuriating, and yet probably inevitable.
So why prolong the agony?
The annual NBA draft lottery isn't such a terrible gamble. Occasional futility doesn't symbolize the death of a franchise. Often, it precipitates a rebirth. With few exceptions, championship clubs have watched the balls spin in the air to determine the order of selection, then benefited from the high picks and the chance to acquire Tim Duncan, Dwyane Wade or Kobe Bryant.
Kings fans can withstand some early offseason pain before the pleasure. Unless Geoff Petrie pulls off a highly improbable trade for another Ron Artest, the Kings will continue slipping in the standings, continue getting older, crankier and slower, and continue alienating fans who are shredding their tickets and pleading for answers.
"Some of the girls and I were talking about that," says Jennie Lopes, a Sacramento resident and longtime Kings fan who called The Bee to express her frustration, "and we were saying that it's time to try something else, because this team just doesn't have it. The older guys just stand there and wait for the ball, and none of them can keep up with Kevin Martin. At least the kids have energy, they want to run, and they try hard. I think most of the fans feel the same way."
Listen to the talk shows. Read the letters to The Bee. Check the e-mails. Heed the callers. The message to coach Eric Musselman and Petrie is surprisingly consistent: Play Martin, Cisco García, Quincy Douby, Ronnie Price and Justin Williams; determine which of the youngsters fits into the future plans; and start shedding salaries and identifying veterans whose presence remains more asset than liability, because the current Kings either don't like each other or don't like to play with each other. Either way, their solo act is crippling the younger set and boring the viewers.
"Back when our guys were good," Lopes continued, "I used to get so excited that my blood pressure went up. I went to the doctor and blamed it on the Kings. They were always looking to pass, looking for each other. There are times these guys don't even look at each other. Get rid of them, and maybe next year we'll have a team again."
Maybe not next year. Makeovers require more than a little mascara. The options for completely restructuring a roster (trade, free agency, draft) are increasingly complicated. Salary cap flexibility warrants as much attention these days as the next college draft -- which, by the way, is projected as one of the richest in years. Another reason to feel young again.
Assuming that Martin, García and Douby are protected, the increasingly restless Petrie's most obvious maneuvers probably will precede or consist of one or more of the following: trading the hefty contracts of Bibby and Brad Miller, packaging either with Kenny Thomas or Shareef Abdur-Rahim; moving the mercurial Artest; or perhaps pursuing a massive multiplayer deal and building around Miller and Artest, the theory here being that the lousy team dynamic will improve with an infusion of youth and the separation of the veteran point guard and small forward.
Clearly, though, Musselman needs some help here, both in terms of players and franchise direction. Unlike Rick Adelman, whose arrival in the 1998-99 season coincided with the acquisitions of Vlade Divac, Chris Webber, Peja Stojakovic, Jason Williams and Jon Barry, Musselman gets all the leftovers. Preseason postseason projections notwithstanding, this is a team of plodders, of players who don't pass, who shoot poorly from three-point range, who don't space the floor to create opportunities at the basket, and worst of all, who could never be confused with a group that overachieves. Other than that, they're a blast.
"These last eight years, I always thought we had a chance to win it all," Kings co-owner Joe Maloof said Sunday. "Everything has peaks and valleys. Our franchise is going to be judged on how we respond to this adversity. We have to make smart moves, be calculating. The only good thing we have going for us this year is the fact the fans still care. The worst thing would be apathy. But something has to change. We have to do things differently, and that needs to be addressed right now."
Yes, it does.
http://www.sacbee.com/351/story/111613.html
By Ailene Voisin - Bee Sports Columnist
Last Updated 12:18 am PST Monday, January 22, 2007
Story appeared in SPORTS section, Page C5
Print | E-Mail | Comments (0)
OK, so, enough already. Enough of these Kings already.
Concede defeat and get on with the offseason. Construct a new team, and build a new arena while you're at it. From a marketing perspective alone, this is the perfect time to blow up both of them -- figuratively speaking, of course -- turn the soil and start from scratch. The playoff itch is disappearing after eight consecutive seasons anyway, for reasons confounding and infuriating, and yet probably inevitable.
So why prolong the agony?
The annual NBA draft lottery isn't such a terrible gamble. Occasional futility doesn't symbolize the death of a franchise. Often, it precipitates a rebirth. With few exceptions, championship clubs have watched the balls spin in the air to determine the order of selection, then benefited from the high picks and the chance to acquire Tim Duncan, Dwyane Wade or Kobe Bryant.
Kings fans can withstand some early offseason pain before the pleasure. Unless Geoff Petrie pulls off a highly improbable trade for another Ron Artest, the Kings will continue slipping in the standings, continue getting older, crankier and slower, and continue alienating fans who are shredding their tickets and pleading for answers.
"Some of the girls and I were talking about that," says Jennie Lopes, a Sacramento resident and longtime Kings fan who called The Bee to express her frustration, "and we were saying that it's time to try something else, because this team just doesn't have it. The older guys just stand there and wait for the ball, and none of them can keep up with Kevin Martin. At least the kids have energy, they want to run, and they try hard. I think most of the fans feel the same way."
Listen to the talk shows. Read the letters to The Bee. Check the e-mails. Heed the callers. The message to coach Eric Musselman and Petrie is surprisingly consistent: Play Martin, Cisco García, Quincy Douby, Ronnie Price and Justin Williams; determine which of the youngsters fits into the future plans; and start shedding salaries and identifying veterans whose presence remains more asset than liability, because the current Kings either don't like each other or don't like to play with each other. Either way, their solo act is crippling the younger set and boring the viewers.
"Back when our guys were good," Lopes continued, "I used to get so excited that my blood pressure went up. I went to the doctor and blamed it on the Kings. They were always looking to pass, looking for each other. There are times these guys don't even look at each other. Get rid of them, and maybe next year we'll have a team again."
Maybe not next year. Makeovers require more than a little mascara. The options for completely restructuring a roster (trade, free agency, draft) are increasingly complicated. Salary cap flexibility warrants as much attention these days as the next college draft -- which, by the way, is projected as one of the richest in years. Another reason to feel young again.
Assuming that Martin, García and Douby are protected, the increasingly restless Petrie's most obvious maneuvers probably will precede or consist of one or more of the following: trading the hefty contracts of Bibby and Brad Miller, packaging either with Kenny Thomas or Shareef Abdur-Rahim; moving the mercurial Artest; or perhaps pursuing a massive multiplayer deal and building around Miller and Artest, the theory here being that the lousy team dynamic will improve with an infusion of youth and the separation of the veteran point guard and small forward.
Clearly, though, Musselman needs some help here, both in terms of players and franchise direction. Unlike Rick Adelman, whose arrival in the 1998-99 season coincided with the acquisitions of Vlade Divac, Chris Webber, Peja Stojakovic, Jason Williams and Jon Barry, Musselman gets all the leftovers. Preseason postseason projections notwithstanding, this is a team of plodders, of players who don't pass, who shoot poorly from three-point range, who don't space the floor to create opportunities at the basket, and worst of all, who could never be confused with a group that overachieves. Other than that, they're a blast.
"These last eight years, I always thought we had a chance to win it all," Kings co-owner Joe Maloof said Sunday. "Everything has peaks and valleys. Our franchise is going to be judged on how we respond to this adversity. We have to make smart moves, be calculating. The only good thing we have going for us this year is the fact the fans still care. The worst thing would be apathy. But something has to change. We have to do things differently, and that needs to be addressed right now."
Yes, it does.
About the writer:
- Reach Ailene Voisin at (916) 321-1208 or avoisin@ sacbee.com. Back columns:www.sacbee.com/voisin.
