G_M
Starter
By Mark Kreidler -- Bee Sports Columnist
Published 2:15 am PDT Thursday, June 30, 2005
http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/story/13153993p-13997674c.html
Right, let's go through the checklist. The Kings won't become a substantially better defensive team by drafting Louisville underclassman Francisco García.
They won't become a substantially better defensive team by any single free-agent signing, seeing as how they have only the NBA's mid-level salary exception to offer and still have to decide whether to use that to keep Darius Songaila and/or Mo Evans.
They can trade for defense only by giving up some of the quality already on their roster. And, while Geoff Petrie is not under strict orders to avoid going any farther over the salary cap, it is clear that the Maloofs would want to see a wildly convincing case for why the extra luxury-tax hit would be worth whatever move Petrie wanted to make.
And the answer is: From within. And from the coach.
The defense, I mean. It'll have to get better on the backs of the players who are supposed to run this team - and that will only happen if Rick Adelman is willing to show those players the other side of his personality.
The Kings don't have to become defensive dominators, and you can forget about them taking on a Detroit approach to things. But they've got to get better, maybe even substantially better, before anyone ever again talks about them in a contender vein without hearing snickers at the other end of the bar.
"And when it's all said and done, I think we will defend better next year," Petrie said Wednesday, the day after he selected the swingman García with the 23rd pick in the draft.
Better how? Better why?
Start with the core. And start with the guy coaching it.
Here's something that hasn't often happened in the past: Peja Stojakovic, Mike Bibby and Brad Miller got called out after the season - by their own employers.
Petrie says that after the first-round playoff loss to Seattle, the three players were told very plainly that they are the nucleus of the team going forward, and that they have to get better.
Better at what? I asked Petrie.
"Better than they've ever been," Petrie replied.
Well, at least it's vague enough.
Can Bibby ever become a great defender? At this point in his career, there's no reason to think so. Can Bibby get better? Absolutely. Stojakovic, who at times bares his defensive fangs, can get better. Miller can get better.
It's interesting that the front office feels compelled to remind the core players of that fact, as if they might somehow slog away from last season's early exit thinking what they were doing was fine. But if remedial reminders work, so much the better.
Petrie puts a fair amount of stock in the general health issue: If Miller stays whole and Bobby Jackson can play 75 games, the Kings get better overall - and certainly defensively, with Jackson on the floor quite a bit.
García, while he's known for his offensive work, is no impediment to the process. He actually arrives here with a reputation as a good team defender for Rick Pitino at Louisville. He's also a classic Petrie pick in terms of his versatility, and his ball-handling ability puts player-personnel director Jerry Reynolds in mind, Reynolds says, of "a young Doug Christie."
Of course, Christie learned how to play NBA defense, and he made the Kings better up and down the floor because of it. García is a rookie and a 23rd pick. Let's not get carried away.
Adelman has always bristled at the notion that he doesn't emphasize defense enough, and the one time Petrie raised his voice Wednesday, it was to say, "Don't tell me that the guy doesn't know how to teach defense."
Petrie pointed to the 2002-03 conference finalist, which sat atop the NBA in several key defensive statistics.
Unsurprisingly, in the time since, as Christie faded and Chris Webber got hurt and Vlade Divac slowed to a crawl, Adelman suddenly began looking like a guy who couldn't coach D. He can. And he should, no matter how offensively oriented Petrie's rosters become.
Adelman has to unleash his inner grump.
He has that side, no doubt. He can be testy and cranky, although most of the time he chooses, when dealing with his players, to show them exceptional latitude and creative free rein, saving his most caustic barbs for the officials.
A little of that ire directed the players' way is how to proceed here, and Adelman doesn't have to become a different person to do it. He's got the standing and the stature in the game to insist that his players play his way, and he only need to look at NBA champ San Antonio to find a popular coach, Gregg Popovich, who won't hesitate to bench a key player for screwing off on defense. Adelman is a coach on a short leash with his owners and a roster in full transition mode. Which is to say: He's got nothing to lose. Release the hounds.
Published 2:15 am PDT Thursday, June 30, 2005
http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/story/13153993p-13997674c.html
Right, let's go through the checklist. The Kings won't become a substantially better defensive team by drafting Louisville underclassman Francisco García.
They won't become a substantially better defensive team by any single free-agent signing, seeing as how they have only the NBA's mid-level salary exception to offer and still have to decide whether to use that to keep Darius Songaila and/or Mo Evans.
They can trade for defense only by giving up some of the quality already on their roster. And, while Geoff Petrie is not under strict orders to avoid going any farther over the salary cap, it is clear that the Maloofs would want to see a wildly convincing case for why the extra luxury-tax hit would be worth whatever move Petrie wanted to make.
And the answer is: From within. And from the coach.
The defense, I mean. It'll have to get better on the backs of the players who are supposed to run this team - and that will only happen if Rick Adelman is willing to show those players the other side of his personality.
The Kings don't have to become defensive dominators, and you can forget about them taking on a Detroit approach to things. But they've got to get better, maybe even substantially better, before anyone ever again talks about them in a contender vein without hearing snickers at the other end of the bar.
"And when it's all said and done, I think we will defend better next year," Petrie said Wednesday, the day after he selected the swingman García with the 23rd pick in the draft.
Better how? Better why?
Start with the core. And start with the guy coaching it.
Here's something that hasn't often happened in the past: Peja Stojakovic, Mike Bibby and Brad Miller got called out after the season - by their own employers.
Petrie says that after the first-round playoff loss to Seattle, the three players were told very plainly that they are the nucleus of the team going forward, and that they have to get better.
Better at what? I asked Petrie.
"Better than they've ever been," Petrie replied.
Well, at least it's vague enough.
Can Bibby ever become a great defender? At this point in his career, there's no reason to think so. Can Bibby get better? Absolutely. Stojakovic, who at times bares his defensive fangs, can get better. Miller can get better.
It's interesting that the front office feels compelled to remind the core players of that fact, as if they might somehow slog away from last season's early exit thinking what they were doing was fine. But if remedial reminders work, so much the better.
Petrie puts a fair amount of stock in the general health issue: If Miller stays whole and Bobby Jackson can play 75 games, the Kings get better overall - and certainly defensively, with Jackson on the floor quite a bit.
García, while he's known for his offensive work, is no impediment to the process. He actually arrives here with a reputation as a good team defender for Rick Pitino at Louisville. He's also a classic Petrie pick in terms of his versatility, and his ball-handling ability puts player-personnel director Jerry Reynolds in mind, Reynolds says, of "a young Doug Christie."
Of course, Christie learned how to play NBA defense, and he made the Kings better up and down the floor because of it. García is a rookie and a 23rd pick. Let's not get carried away.
Adelman has always bristled at the notion that he doesn't emphasize defense enough, and the one time Petrie raised his voice Wednesday, it was to say, "Don't tell me that the guy doesn't know how to teach defense."
Petrie pointed to the 2002-03 conference finalist, which sat atop the NBA in several key defensive statistics.
Unsurprisingly, in the time since, as Christie faded and Chris Webber got hurt and Vlade Divac slowed to a crawl, Adelman suddenly began looking like a guy who couldn't coach D. He can. And he should, no matter how offensively oriented Petrie's rosters become.
Adelman has to unleash his inner grump.
He has that side, no doubt. He can be testy and cranky, although most of the time he chooses, when dealing with his players, to show them exceptional latitude and creative free rein, saving his most caustic barbs for the officials.
A little of that ire directed the players' way is how to proceed here, and Adelman doesn't have to become a different person to do it. He's got the standing and the stature in the game to insist that his players play his way, and he only need to look at NBA champ San Antonio to find a popular coach, Gregg Popovich, who won't hesitate to bench a key player for screwing off on defense. Adelman is a coach on a short leash with his owners and a roster in full transition mode. Which is to say: He's got nothing to lose. Release the hounds.
