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http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/basketball/kings/story/14253626p-15069432c.html
Ailene Voisin: From here, let Petrie be one to call shots
By Ailene Voisin
Published 2:15 am PDT Wednesday, May 10, 2006
This is what Rick Adelman's future came down to: Geoff Petrie stopped fighting the fight. In what must have been a wrenching, incremental process, he realized that another rescue attempt was futile, that the differences between his head coach and the Maloofs were irreconcilable, and that he, too, ultimately answers to the owners.
He acknowledged the obvious and accepted the inevitable. For a variety of reasons - and that Game 2 loss against the San Antonio Spurs furthered the family's resolve - the Maloofs were determined to make a coaching change.
It happens. It happens often.
Eight years in one place is highly unusual.
NBA head coaches generally hope for five and routinely depart after three. The numbers suggest rent rather than buy. And Petrie, a Princeton grad, can spin the record any way he wants, can argue that Adelman earned a new contract with the club's second-half turnaround, that his Kings had regained momentum and were churning toward a more promising future. He can preach patience and prudence and caution against abrupt decisions.
But he must have sensed that his usually persuasive counterarguments would be ineffective this time, and that ultimately, his only move was to acquiesce to the owners' demands.
"We have always left the basketball decisions to Geoff," co-owner Joe Maloof said on his cell phone later Tuesday, "but with the head coach, I think the owners are entitled to get involved. We just felt it was time to go in a different direction. We're pretty impulsive people. We move quick. Yesterday (Monday), the family talked, we talked with Geoff, and figured out what we wanted to do, and I think Geoff was OK with that."
On the face of it - and Petrie is as transparent as any executive in pro sports - the team's highly regarded basketball president appeared subdued at Tuesday's media gathering, but not emotionally overwrought. In fact, when contrasted with his reaction to former Kings owner Jim Thomas' firing of Eddie Jordan - when Petrie physically turned his back on his ex-boss during the news conference - his demeanor suggested something between acceptance and resignation, if not outright agreement.
Nonetheless, the Maloofs should tread lightly here. With something as fundamental as the selection of a new head coach, with no obvious elite candidates available - no Phil Jackson or Gregg Popovich or Jerry Sloan dangling out there - Petrie has to be given the latitude to draft the list of candidates and have the final say on the next coach. The Maloofs can question and opine all they like. They can offer parameters, cite demands, insist as Joe Maloof did Tuesday that the future coach be defense-oriented.
But in the end, they need to rely on Petrie to make the right choice.
He isn't wrong often. He makes a move, then makes a better move. This is not a static franchise. True, Petrie occasionally needs prodding. Jim Thomas, for instance, was right when he insisted his club needed an experienced coach and hired Adelman. And true again, it took serious arm-twisting by George Maloof to facilitate the swap of Peja Stojakovic for Ron Artest - the trade that essentially transformed a season and, at least for a while, saved Adelman's job.
"(But) the dynamic that needed to be there to move forward," Petrie acknowledged, referring to Adelman and the Maloofs, "just wasn't there."
When did it change? Why did it change? Petrie has been the man in charge and the man in the middle, both a placating and powerful force, for at least four years now. Although the Maloofs were enthusiastic supporters of Adelman when they purchased majority interest in the franchise in January 1999, their sentiments swung wildly after the Kings lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 7 of the 2002 Western Conference finals. Adelman's subsequent handling of Chris Webber's return in March 2004, following a lengthy injury absence, further eroded their confidence, as did a Game 7 loss in Minneapolis (2004), and the disappointing playoff series last year against the Seattle SuperSonics.
Most recently, Mike Bibby's defensive lapse on the Spurs' final regulation possession of Game 2 was perceived by the Maloofs - justifiably or not - as emblematic of the Adelman era: all the big plays made by the other teams, all the big defensive gaffes made by the Kings.
"We've seen it both ways," continued Joe Maloof. "We've seen dynamic offense and great defense, and I think, as everybody keeps mentioning, the only way you are going to win a title is with defense. Defense is the major consideration."
No argument there. Defense has defined champions for decades. But philosophy aside, the next move has to be Petrie's. The list of candidates he presented to Jim Thomas in 1998 included Rick Carlisle and Scott Skiles, the latter emerging as one of the league's brightest young coaches. After Thomas nixed the candidacy of Skiles, Carlisle and Kurt Rambis, and entertained second thoughts about hiring veteran coach Paul Silas, Petrie introduced Adelman's name for consideration - as it turns out, another shrewd maneuver.
So while owners deserve to be heard and their input valued, basketball executives are paid to make the basketball decisions, and Petrie, who has been with the club since 1994, is a proven commodity with an impressive portfolio.
Let him do his job.
Ailene Voisin: From here, let Petrie be one to call shots
By Ailene Voisin
Published 2:15 am PDT Wednesday, May 10, 2006
This is what Rick Adelman's future came down to: Geoff Petrie stopped fighting the fight. In what must have been a wrenching, incremental process, he realized that another rescue attempt was futile, that the differences between his head coach and the Maloofs were irreconcilable, and that he, too, ultimately answers to the owners.
He acknowledged the obvious and accepted the inevitable. For a variety of reasons - and that Game 2 loss against the San Antonio Spurs furthered the family's resolve - the Maloofs were determined to make a coaching change.
It happens. It happens often.
Eight years in one place is highly unusual.
NBA head coaches generally hope for five and routinely depart after three. The numbers suggest rent rather than buy. And Petrie, a Princeton grad, can spin the record any way he wants, can argue that Adelman earned a new contract with the club's second-half turnaround, that his Kings had regained momentum and were churning toward a more promising future. He can preach patience and prudence and caution against abrupt decisions.
But he must have sensed that his usually persuasive counterarguments would be ineffective this time, and that ultimately, his only move was to acquiesce to the owners' demands.
"We have always left the basketball decisions to Geoff," co-owner Joe Maloof said on his cell phone later Tuesday, "but with the head coach, I think the owners are entitled to get involved. We just felt it was time to go in a different direction. We're pretty impulsive people. We move quick. Yesterday (Monday), the family talked, we talked with Geoff, and figured out what we wanted to do, and I think Geoff was OK with that."
On the face of it - and Petrie is as transparent as any executive in pro sports - the team's highly regarded basketball president appeared subdued at Tuesday's media gathering, but not emotionally overwrought. In fact, when contrasted with his reaction to former Kings owner Jim Thomas' firing of Eddie Jordan - when Petrie physically turned his back on his ex-boss during the news conference - his demeanor suggested something between acceptance and resignation, if not outright agreement.
Nonetheless, the Maloofs should tread lightly here. With something as fundamental as the selection of a new head coach, with no obvious elite candidates available - no Phil Jackson or Gregg Popovich or Jerry Sloan dangling out there - Petrie has to be given the latitude to draft the list of candidates and have the final say on the next coach. The Maloofs can question and opine all they like. They can offer parameters, cite demands, insist as Joe Maloof did Tuesday that the future coach be defense-oriented.
But in the end, they need to rely on Petrie to make the right choice.
He isn't wrong often. He makes a move, then makes a better move. This is not a static franchise. True, Petrie occasionally needs prodding. Jim Thomas, for instance, was right when he insisted his club needed an experienced coach and hired Adelman. And true again, it took serious arm-twisting by George Maloof to facilitate the swap of Peja Stojakovic for Ron Artest - the trade that essentially transformed a season and, at least for a while, saved Adelman's job.
"(But) the dynamic that needed to be there to move forward," Petrie acknowledged, referring to Adelman and the Maloofs, "just wasn't there."
When did it change? Why did it change? Petrie has been the man in charge and the man in the middle, both a placating and powerful force, for at least four years now. Although the Maloofs were enthusiastic supporters of Adelman when they purchased majority interest in the franchise in January 1999, their sentiments swung wildly after the Kings lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 7 of the 2002 Western Conference finals. Adelman's subsequent handling of Chris Webber's return in March 2004, following a lengthy injury absence, further eroded their confidence, as did a Game 7 loss in Minneapolis (2004), and the disappointing playoff series last year against the Seattle SuperSonics.
Most recently, Mike Bibby's defensive lapse on the Spurs' final regulation possession of Game 2 was perceived by the Maloofs - justifiably or not - as emblematic of the Adelman era: all the big plays made by the other teams, all the big defensive gaffes made by the Kings.
"We've seen it both ways," continued Joe Maloof. "We've seen dynamic offense and great defense, and I think, as everybody keeps mentioning, the only way you are going to win a title is with defense. Defense is the major consideration."
No argument there. Defense has defined champions for decades. But philosophy aside, the next move has to be Petrie's. The list of candidates he presented to Jim Thomas in 1998 included Rick Carlisle and Scott Skiles, the latter emerging as one of the league's brightest young coaches. After Thomas nixed the candidacy of Skiles, Carlisle and Kurt Rambis, and entertained second thoughts about hiring veteran coach Paul Silas, Petrie introduced Adelman's name for consideration - as it turns out, another shrewd maneuver.
So while owners deserve to be heard and their input valued, basketball executives are paid to make the basketball decisions, and Petrie, who has been with the club since 1994, is a proven commodity with an impressive portfolio.
Let him do his job.
About the writer:
- Reach Ailene Voisin at (916) 321-1208 or avoisin@sacbee.com. Back columns: www.sacbee.com/voisin.
