coolhandluke
Starter
Bobby Jackson stared at the stat sheet in amazement, then in disgust, then in utter confusion. His Kings had just been carved into 121 little pieces by the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves, exploited on the perimeter and in the paint, and as it would be suggested later, even sabotaged by the mysterious machinations on the sideline.
Conspiracy theorists had to love this one. No shot clock. No game clock. No satisfactory explanation for the malfunction (old age?) that occurred with 2:52 remaining, and the Kings on the verge of exacting at least a smidgen of revenge against the team that sent them hurtling toward the summer of their discontent.
No, if Sunday's streak-busting defeat was particularly painful because of the abundance of self-inflicted wounds - and it was - the most disturbed of Kings figured to be Jackson, a T-wolves castoff who watched the grueling seven-game Western Conference semifinal while dressed in street clothes and nursing a torn abdominal muscle that sidelined him for 24 games. He sat there, helpless, as his teammates defended aggressively but labored offensively.
He sat there, frustrated, convinced his postseason presence would have been the difference.
"And you always want to beat the team that gave you up," reminded Jackson after the T-wolves resisted the Kings' late rally-and-recovery and slipped out of Arco Arena with a 121-110 decision.
"Then to lose a game like this ... defensively our rotations were terrible. I don't know how many open looks (Eddie) Griffin got. We just let down. We lost our focus. Tonight it was the four-man stepping out and hitting threes, and our weak-side help wasn't there."
The ending was abrupt, decisive, downright weird.
The finale was sheer madness, in a manner of speaking.
After the Kings confronted a deficit for most of the evening, unable to capitalize on the return of Peja Stojakovic's outside stroke, Chris Webber's crafty drives and assists, Mike Bibby's timely jumpers or Darius Songaila's much-needed rebounding (five boards), Jackson ignited both the sellout crowd and his own teammates with a fourth-quarter burst typical of his contributions these past four years.
"We tried to keep Bobby out of the middle," Sam Cassell said, "and he kept getting in there. He was getting fouled and finding people, too. When he does that, they are much tougher to play. That's what they missed against us during the playoffs."
During Sunday's late flurry, Jackson, who still earns rousing cheers whenever he rises from the bench and rips off his sweatpants, converted the free throws that pulled his team within a basket. He went airborne for a rebound that led to a Webber jumper. He was fouled on a three-pointer and converted the ensuing free throws. He hit a jumper from the foul line, and in what might have been his most impressive drive of the young season, blew past Wally Szczerbiak, drew the foul and finished the three-point play to bring the Kings within 106-104 with 2:52 remaining.
And then, time stood still.
And then, so did the Kings.
While the T-wolves attacked, the Kings countered by missing layups, missing jumpers, missing opportunities in transition and in general missing opportunities to steal a victory. They failed to make themselves at home, instead welcomed the visitors as if they were guests in town for the holiday weekend.
"That clock situation messes with you," Jackson conceded. "You can't see anything. You can't hear the (public address announcer) yelling out the score. Clock management becomes really tough. But what bothers me is that we could still play defense, and we let down. There is no excuse for that. The way we have been playing lately, we should have won this game."
Entering Sunday's encounter, Rick Adelman's club had captured seven consecutive outings, and in a dramatic shift appeared to have moved beyond the painfully turbulent offseason, the preseason injuries and the early-season funk. Stojakovic has been defending aggressively and averaging 20 points despite ongoing struggles with his outside shot (and troubling reluctance to hit the boards). Bibby has been lethal from the perimeter and increasingly working different sides and angles on the floor. Doug Christie has been playing through the pain in his foot and aggravating opponents with his typical all-around skills and creative playmaking. Songaila has emerged as a consistent contributor off the bench. Jackson has reclaimed his acrobatic, if off-balance, repertoire. And Webber, though running gingerly, as if rooted in cement on occasion, increasingly is discovering new ways to contribute, his on-the-ground game elevating by the day.
But Jackson is absolutely right about one thing.
The Kings can't defend their lack of defense. Not at 2:52, or, for that matter, at any time.
http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/basketball/kings/story/11609014p-12498597c.html
Conspiracy theorists had to love this one. No shot clock. No game clock. No satisfactory explanation for the malfunction (old age?) that occurred with 2:52 remaining, and the Kings on the verge of exacting at least a smidgen of revenge against the team that sent them hurtling toward the summer of their discontent.
No, if Sunday's streak-busting defeat was particularly painful because of the abundance of self-inflicted wounds - and it was - the most disturbed of Kings figured to be Jackson, a T-wolves castoff who watched the grueling seven-game Western Conference semifinal while dressed in street clothes and nursing a torn abdominal muscle that sidelined him for 24 games. He sat there, helpless, as his teammates defended aggressively but labored offensively.
He sat there, frustrated, convinced his postseason presence would have been the difference.
"And you always want to beat the team that gave you up," reminded Jackson after the T-wolves resisted the Kings' late rally-and-recovery and slipped out of Arco Arena with a 121-110 decision.
"Then to lose a game like this ... defensively our rotations were terrible. I don't know how many open looks (Eddie) Griffin got. We just let down. We lost our focus. Tonight it was the four-man stepping out and hitting threes, and our weak-side help wasn't there."
The ending was abrupt, decisive, downright weird.
The finale was sheer madness, in a manner of speaking.
After the Kings confronted a deficit for most of the evening, unable to capitalize on the return of Peja Stojakovic's outside stroke, Chris Webber's crafty drives and assists, Mike Bibby's timely jumpers or Darius Songaila's much-needed rebounding (five boards), Jackson ignited both the sellout crowd and his own teammates with a fourth-quarter burst typical of his contributions these past four years.
"We tried to keep Bobby out of the middle," Sam Cassell said, "and he kept getting in there. He was getting fouled and finding people, too. When he does that, they are much tougher to play. That's what they missed against us during the playoffs."
During Sunday's late flurry, Jackson, who still earns rousing cheers whenever he rises from the bench and rips off his sweatpants, converted the free throws that pulled his team within a basket. He went airborne for a rebound that led to a Webber jumper. He was fouled on a three-pointer and converted the ensuing free throws. He hit a jumper from the foul line, and in what might have been his most impressive drive of the young season, blew past Wally Szczerbiak, drew the foul and finished the three-point play to bring the Kings within 106-104 with 2:52 remaining.
And then, time stood still.
And then, so did the Kings.
While the T-wolves attacked, the Kings countered by missing layups, missing jumpers, missing opportunities in transition and in general missing opportunities to steal a victory. They failed to make themselves at home, instead welcomed the visitors as if they were guests in town for the holiday weekend.
"That clock situation messes with you," Jackson conceded. "You can't see anything. You can't hear the (public address announcer) yelling out the score. Clock management becomes really tough. But what bothers me is that we could still play defense, and we let down. There is no excuse for that. The way we have been playing lately, we should have won this game."
Entering Sunday's encounter, Rick Adelman's club had captured seven consecutive outings, and in a dramatic shift appeared to have moved beyond the painfully turbulent offseason, the preseason injuries and the early-season funk. Stojakovic has been defending aggressively and averaging 20 points despite ongoing struggles with his outside shot (and troubling reluctance to hit the boards). Bibby has been lethal from the perimeter and increasingly working different sides and angles on the floor. Doug Christie has been playing through the pain in his foot and aggravating opponents with his typical all-around skills and creative playmaking. Songaila has emerged as a consistent contributor off the bench. Jackson has reclaimed his acrobatic, if off-balance, repertoire. And Webber, though running gingerly, as if rooted in cement on occasion, increasingly is discovering new ways to contribute, his on-the-ground game elevating by the day.
But Jackson is absolutely right about one thing.
The Kings can't defend their lack of defense. Not at 2:52, or, for that matter, at any time.
http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/basketball/kings/story/11609014p-12498597c.html
