Adelman skeptical of Jackson talk

LMM · May 7, 2005

http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/basketball/kings/story/12851957p-13701516c.html

Adelman skeptical of Jackson talk

The longtime Kings coach says the Maloofs have always been loyal to him - and that he hasn't heard from them.

By Martin McNeal -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PDT Saturday, May 7, 2005

The Kings met Friday afternoon at their practice facility to divvy up their playoff money and clean out their belongings.

A few of the players met with the media and made it clear that the topic of their ownership group making overtures toward former Los Angeles Lakers and Chicago Bulls coach Phil Jackson wasn't open for discussion.

Kings coach Rick Adelman wasn't at the facility but said Friday he would be disappointed to find out the Maloofs had indeed contacted Jackson's representative, Todd Musburger.

"The Maloofs have treated me so good and been so loyal to me," said Adelman, who has coached the Kings since 1998, "that if that did happen, well, I have been here seven years, and I'd be surprised. I think I deserve a little better than that. I can't control what they want to do.

"I haven't heard anything from anybody in the organization, so I'll assume I'm still the coach until I do. I'm still skeptical of the source of information, but if it happened, I'm disappointed. I haven't talked to (Kings president) Geoff (Petrie, who underwent an angioplasty Wednesday night) because he's trying to recover. But whenever there is something to talk about, he usually gets in contact with me."

Adelman jokingly questioned whether Jackson, who won nine total NBA titles with the likes of Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen with Chicago and Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant with the Lakers, would want to come to the Kings.

"In the past," Adelman said, "there's always had to be two superstars for Phil to come."

Kings small forward Peja Stojakovic said he didn't know anything about the Maloofs wanting to talk to Jackson, but he did have a comment regarding Adelman.

"The people here don't respect our coach as much as he deserves," Stojakovic said.

Most of the conversation Friday centered on the end of the season and a look toward next.

Kings center Brad Miller spoke about coming back stronger and quicker. Point guard Mike Bibby said he hopes the team establishes more defined roles. Stojakovic said he wants to work on new moves for his offensive game. And Greg Ostertag, who said he might be big but is hardly stupid, said he plans on accepting the option on the final season of his two-year contract. Ostertag is to be paid $4.4 million next season.

Miller went home at the end of the 2003-04 season thinking about missing key free throws in a Game 7 loss in the Western Conference semifinals to Minnesota.

This summer, at home in Indiana, Miller said he'll work to become physically stronger after consistently losing the banging war with Seattle SuperSonics center Jerome James in their first-round playoff matchup.

"I've got to go home and get stronger, so I can deal with players like Jerome James, who aren't great basketball players but can bang and be physical," said Miller, who refused to use the excuse of just recovering from his broken left leg.

Miller's boat was parked outside the Kings' facility as he spoke. He noted he loves to fish and hunt and will get those hobbies handled. But he also noted his property in Indiana includes a 40-foot-by-60-foot basketball court inside a barn, and there is space for weight-lifting inside the barn.

Miller said he plans to add a couple of workout machines to the barn, which now just has a few dumbbells inside. "I'm probably going to lift with my little brother," Miller said. "I don't believe in lifting a lot of heavy weights, but I'll increase repetitions."

EmKingsFan4 · May 7, 2005

I hear ya Peja! That's the one thing on this forum that I struggle with. Rick gets nowhere near the amount of respect that the players do, when he is every bit as important to the way the team plays as they are. When we do well the players get the props, and when we do badly it's all Ricks fault. The poor guy can't win...he turned a nothing team into a household name and he doesn't get the credit or respect he deserves from some people >>::cough:ailene voisin::cough::<<..okay, rant over

Webber4tHREE · May 7, 2005

ty peja

Bad Boy Bo · May 7, 2005

I was going to say what Em said. And this year maybe the hardest lost in previous years (speaking of it being an early exit). So I feel they are going to really work on each player said they would. This hit them harder, and the Seattle-Sacramento matchup exposed every flaw within the team.

Ryle · May 7, 2005

EmKingsFan4 said:

I think Chris Webber, Vlade & Jason Williams had alot more to do with that then Adleman did. I think the guy gets far too much credit for the Kings record the past 7 years.

Kingsgurl · May 7, 2005

Ryle said:

Yes, everyone knows Adelman is only responsible when they lose.

Players win, coaches lose.

chelle · May 7, 2005

Another thing that I liked about the article was that they seemed more definite about what they wre going to work on about themselves this summer. In the past, it has been things like, "We need to work on getting better." Well that is obvious. I like that they are looking at themselves individually and specifically. There does not seem to be much finger pointing at each other, just at themselves. I like that. I am also impressed with how they seem to be "circling the wagons" around Adleman in this article and the postgame quotes on kings.com. It does not sound like a team on the verge of falling apart. While I agree that this was bad becasue we lost so early, they sounded more "beat up" last year. I laughed just as much, if not more, at Miller's reference to James' "who aren't great basketball players," as I did Tag's quote.

quick dog · May 7, 2005

Adelman does not deserve this BS and disrespect. I am really tired of reading dumb stuff by the Adelman haters. I doubt that the Maloofs have seriously entertained the notion of hiring Phil Jackson. Phil is a salmanella-ridden lounge-lizard.

6th · May 7, 2005

Tell us what you really think of Phil, dog!!

p.s. In response to your last post........WORD!!

keflanag · May 7, 2005

Ryle said:

I LOVE CWebb and Vlade. They are great passers, but have you noticed there is ZERO offensive dropoff since they have left? Could it possibly be the system? Could it be coaching? hmmmmm.

Bartking · May 7, 2005

I wonder what Bibby meant about "defined roles?" Anybody got an idea?

Fillmoe · May 7, 2005

Adelman is responsible for the position hes in right now. Not injuries, not Petrie, not "The Trade", not a Vlade Divac assist to Robert Horry! Adelman had his chance and he failed...... He once had the deepest bench in the league and for what? So they can sit on the bench? Hes a great coach but he cant lead us to the promised land because his non defensive mentality! We no longer have the pieces to run the type of offense he was accustomed to. We ended an era with the CWebb trade and I think the firing of Adelman will follow suit..........

Geoff · May 7, 2005

Fillmoe said:

I was under the impression that the responsibility of acquiring pieces was that of the General Manager, a certain Geoff Petrie who seems to have attained demi-god status in Sacramento...

And how exactly did Adelman fail?

Fillmoe · May 7, 2005

Geoff said:

did we win a championship under Adelman?

chelle · May 7, 2005

Bartking said:

My own personal opinion:

After the last game, he talked about people wanting to score. He said that if we passed the ball and played the way we know how to play, everybody would get their shots. He encourages Miller and Peja to shoot. He said before one game, he wanted to help Brad get going. Before the last game, he said that he wanted to focus on helping Peja get his shot going early. He did both. As point guard, that is his job, and I thnk he did a good job at it. I THINK he was referring to the new guys (from Cat on down), not neccessarily in a bad way, but to the fact they most of them did not know how to fit in the system. Mobley, whom I like, is a one-on-one scorer, not really a passer by nature. He is and can continue to improve with this. Other that that, we don't need to others to score much. We need to pass, bang, and rebound. We need player to fill those roles and not worry about shooting.

kingsfannPDX · May 7, 2005

chances are that we won't get phil. but we NEED a new coach. it's time for a change. give adelman a different position if you want to keep him in the fam. but i'm ready to see him go. if we can trade webb then we can certainly give rick the boot. he's had his chances let's see what someone else can do. but it's not just the coach. this team is nowhere near a championship caliber team. even if brad goes and lifts weights all summer and mike and peja work on their games. we need some serious help. it might involve trading one of those guys to get better. who knows? the only thing that's obvious is that this group isn't going to get the job done. so i welcome change with open arms.

SacKingsFX · May 7, 2005

What a great attitude from Miller.
That's why I like Brad so much.

Padrino · May 7, 2005

i wonder who he's talking about...

LPKingsFan · May 7, 2005

Miller plays hoops in a barn. Classic.

Just_Lurkin · May 7, 2005

Would they really tell him if they planned on giving him the boot? Me thinks not.

Just_Lurkin · May 7, 2005

Geoff said:

IMO you can't blame one without the other.

thesanityannex · May 7, 2005

Fillmoe said:

i agree that he is not defensive minded. and that can work, but its tough. phoenix this year reminds me of the kings of old, and i dont think phoenix can make it and win, like the kings. the part you said about adelmans bench kind of bugged me. because peotrie is such a genius, hes able to get amazing bench players, and unfortunately, when the rest of the league sees their talent, they swipe them up the next year, aka jimmy jackson, hedo, john barry, keon clark, wallace. you cant hide these guys from the rest of the league for ever.

Bricklayer · May 7, 2005

Fillmoe said:

That's just dumb. Sorry. But it is.

If Phil Jackson took over the Clippers next year and failed to win it all is he "a failure" for not winning the championship? Hardly.

Winning a championship is an absolutely meaningless standard by which to judge a coach UNLESS you factor in SHOULD he have won a championship? And there I want to hear your argument. Actually its not necessary. I know all of the ridiculous Kings fans claims at this point. But the reality is we have '00-'01 when we first got good and there was no realistic chance. We have '01-'02 where Peja blows out his ankle and we still manage to take the Lakers to a Game 7 OT despite being picked to get swept by many observers. '02-'03 where Webber destroys his knee, and nobody has EVER won a title without their #1 guy, everyone's favorite delusion '03-'04 where we were racing along playing no defense but scoring a lot and hoping Webb could return at close to his old form to give us the interior presence we needed, then lost Bobby, mostly lost Brad, and found out Webb would never be what he was, and of course this year when the team was torn apart midseason and there was simply no shot at all.

By anyone not a Kings fan (and thus a bit more objective about the team) we were susposed to win the title one year, and one year only, and that was '02-'03. And that was taken from us emphatically by injuries. NO coach, and this has been said before -- NO coach wins titles with his main guns sitting in street clothes. When Duncan got hurt in '00 Pop's Spurs got bounced early. When Mailman got hurt last year, Phil's lakers go down. When MJ sat out a year, Phil's Lakers get bounced in Rnd 2. When MJ returned ala Webber the next year, Phil's Lakers get bounced. When Magic & Scott went down in the Finals vs. Detroit, Riley didn't magically make them champs. If Duncan was not/is not truly healthy this year, pop will be bounced again. If Ben Wallace gets hurt tommorow, the Pistons are done. Rick Adelman has never failed to win this team a title it should have won. Indeed we've never even lost a playoff series we should have won. The only one we ever lost where we were favored was the Dallas series in '02-'03, and we weren't favored anymore after losing our star.

Phil Jackson has never won a title without not one, but TWO HOFs on the team. Larry Brown took 30 years to finally win a title. Did he magically get smarter? or did he finally have the team to do it with. Jerry Sloan has never won a title, WITH two HOFs.

Repeat after me peoples: NO COACH WINS TITLES WITH INJURIES TO HIS MAIN GUYS. No coach. Not Rick. Not Pop. Not PJ. Not Riley. Always looking for a scapegoat for our disappointment.

LPKingsFan · May 7, 2005

Bricklayer said:

That's just dumb. Sorry. But it is.

If Phil Jackson took over the Clippers next year and failed to win it all is he "a failure" for not winning the championship? Hardly.

Winning a championship is an absolutely meaningless standard by which to judge a coach UNLESS you factor in SHOULD he have won a championship? And there I want to hear your argument. Actually its not necessary. I know all of the ridiculous Kings fans claims at this point. But the reality is we have '00-'01 when we first got good and there was no realistic chance. We have '01-'02 where Peja blows out his ankle and we still manage to take the Lakers to a Game 7 OT despite being picked to get swept by many observers. '02-'03 where Webber destroys his knee, and nobody has EVER won a title without their #1 guy, everyone's favorite delusion '03-'04 where we were racing along playing no defense but scoring a lot and hoping Webb could return at close to his old form to give us the interior presence we needed, then lost Bobby, mostly lost Brad, and found out Webb would never be what he was, and of course this year when the team was torn apart midseason and there was simply no shot at all.

By anyone not a Kings fan (and thus a bit more objective about the team) we were susposed to win the title one year, and one year only, and that was '02-'03. And that was taken from us emphatically by injuries. NO coach, and this has been said before -- NO coach wins titles with his main guns sitting in street clothes. When Duncan got hurt in '00 Pop's Spurs got bounced early. When Mailman got hurt last year, Phil's lakers go down. When MJ sat out a year, Phil's Lakers get bounced in Rnd 2. When MJ returned ala Webber the next year, Phil's Lakers get bounced. When Magic & Scott went down in the Finals vs. Detroit, Riley didn't magically make them champs. If Duncan was not/is not truly healthy this year, pop will be bounced again. If Ben Wallace gets hurt tommorow, the Pistons are done. Rick Adelman has never failed to win this team a title it should have won. Indeed we've never even lost a playoff series we should have won. The only one we ever lost where we were favored was the Dallas series in '02-'03, and we weren't favored anymore after losing our star.

Phil Jackson has never won a title without not one, but TWO HOFs on the team. Larry Brown took 30 years to finally win a title. Did he magically get smarter? or did he finally have the team to do it with. Jerry Sloan has never won a title, WITH two HOFs.

Repeat after me peoples: NO COACH WINS TITLES WITH INJURIES TO HIS MAIN GUYS. No coach. Not Rick. Not Pop. Not PJ. Not Riley. Always looking for a scapegoat for our disappointment.

I hear you.

The only complaint I could forsee with this perspective is 01-02. Granted, the Kings did lose Peja, but with any sort of mental toughness they would have pulled out.

Now, the question is whether the coach is responsible for the mental toughness of the team.

But other than that, I have no complaints/issues/questions and am all for having Adelman return.

Geoff · May 7, 2005

Bricklayer said:

That's just dumb. Sorry. But it is.

If Phil Jackson took over the Clippers next year and failed to win it all is he "a failure" for not winning the championship? Hardly.

Winning a championship is an absolutely meaningless standard by which to judge a coach UNLESS you factor in SHOULD he have won a championship? And there I want to hear your argument. Actually its not necessary. I know all of the ridiculous Kings fans claims at this point. But the reality is we have '00-'01 when we first got good and there was no realistic chance. We have '01-'02 where Peja blows out his ankle and we still manage to take the Lakers to a Game 7 OT despite being picked to get swept by many observers. '02-'03 where Webber destroys his knee, and nobody has EVER won a title without their #1 guy, everyone's favorite delusion '03-'04 where we were racing along playing no defense but scoring a lot and hoping Webb could return at close to his old form to give us the interior presence we needed, then lost Bobby, mostly lost Brad, and found out Webb would never be what he was, and of course this year when the team was torn apart midseason and there was simply no shot at all.

By anyone not a Kings fan (and thus a bit more objective about the team) we were susposed to win the title one year, and one year only, and that was '02-'03. And that was taken from us emphatically by injuries. NO coach, and this has been said before -- NO coach wins titles with his main guns sitting in street clothes. When Duncan got hurt in '00 Pop's Spurs got bounced early. When Mailman got hurt last year, Phil's lakers go down. When MJ sat out a year, Phil's Lakers get bounced in Rnd 2. When MJ returned ala Webber the next year, Phil's Lakers get bounced. When Magic & Scott went down in the Finals vs. Detroit, Riley didn't magically make them champs. If Duncan was not/is not truly healthy this year, pop will be bounced again. If Ben Wallace gets hurt tommorow, the Pistons are done. Rick Adelman has never failed to win this team a title it should have won. Indeed we've never even lost a playoff series we should have won. The only one we ever lost where we were favored was the Dallas series in '02-'03, and we weren't favored anymore after losing our star.

Phil Jackson has never won a title without not one, but TWO HOFs on the team. Larry Brown took 30 years to finally win a title. Did he magically get smarter? or did he finally have the team to do it with. Jerry Sloan has never won a title, WITH two HOFs.

Repeat after me peoples: NO COACH WINS TITLES WITH INJURIES TO HIS MAIN GUYS. No coach. Not Rick. Not Pop. Not PJ. Not Riley. Always looking for a scapegoat for our disappointment.

Preach it brotha, you said it better than I ever could. It keeps on being said, but if you want to use that championship thing as a gold bar, then over 90% of the coaches in the league are failures.

El Duque · May 7, 2005

Brick,

That's pretty much everything I've been trying to say with sarcasm and low-grade humor. Thank you, good sir.

VF21 · May 7, 2005

IMHO the main point of this article is that it pretty much points a finger at Voisin to put up or shut up...and her "source close to the organization" had better be rock solid or she's going to have some real crow dishes sitting in front of her.

Honorable business people do NOT go behind a coach they respect AND a GM they respect. I think this is a good article and I certainly want to continue to believe, until proven otherwise, that AV was - ONCE AGAIN - practicing "wishing can make it so" journalism in her previous article.

Notice how Coach Adelman, always honorable, didn't come right out and nail a certain Bee Sports Columnist to the wall? If the tables had been turned, it certainly wouldn't have played out the same way.

Props to Marty for going to the coach and getting HIS take on the matter.

AleksandarN · May 7, 2005

Kings center Brad Miller spoke about coming back stronger and quicker. Point guard Mike Bibby said he hopes the team establishes more defined roles. Stojakovic said he wants to work on new moves for his offensive game. And Greg Ostertag, who said he might be big but is hardly stupid, said he plans on accepting the option on the final season of his two-year contract. Ostertag is to be paid $4.4 million next season

This is what I like to hear. Can we say post game in the future for Pedja? I hope so.

VF21 · May 7, 2005

When I read that comment, my first thought was that Peja actually has read our board and knows what he needs to do!

If he can do that, AleksandarN, I promise all will be good and I'll be able to move forever past old grudges.

AleksandarN · May 7, 2005

VF21 said:

Me too I always thought Pedja had the talent but maybe did not have the drive to become a superstar. If only he had the drive that some players like Kobe has to improve his game.

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