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http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/basketball/kings/story/12013988p-12884383c.html
Ailene Voisin: Latest trade gives Petrie flexibility
By Ailene Voisin -- Bee Sports Columnist
Published 2:15 am PST Wednesday, January 12, 2005
So, OK, the thrill is gone, the buzz replaced by a complacent rap and the screeching sounds of an Arco Arena gone quiet. The Kings needed a change, a dramatic maneuver, something to alter the dynamic.
But this swap for Cuttino Mobley?
Great. Now the Kings have four players who need their shots.
The players continue to exit, but the philosophy remains the same: You score, we score more. No one except Doug Christie, Bobby Jackson, and, to a lesser extent, Peja Stojakovic, ever wants to play defense around here. And just when it appears Geoff Petrie might make a deal to strengthen the club's glaring weakness - and, in truth, Christie's defensive skills have diminished with age - the boss executes yet another unconventional move.
He obtains another scorer. He acquires another shooting guard. He trades down in size, if also in age.
"This is a reasonable gamble," Petrie explained, "if you want to call it a gamble. We give up some size and versatility, but we got a guy who can drive and pass, can break his man down, can finish at the basket. And I think Cuttino can be adequate defensively. No one player was going to change our team defense. That comes down to a stronger commitment individually and working within the team concept."
Given Petrie's history of making one astute move after another, his ability to spend someone else's millions wisely, he certainly deserves the benefit of the doubt. From a business management/salary-cap perspective, Monday's trade for the 6-foot-4 Mobley, who was available largely because of his defensive lapses, also makes some sense for these reasons: 1) The Kings free themselves of the $8.2 million they were indebted to pay a 35-year-old Christie next season, thereby freeing millions to re-sign Stojakovic; 2) the $6.3 million owed Mobley next season also figures to be a non-
issue, since the former Orlando Magic veteran already has announced his intention to opt out; and 3), in general, the maneuver affords some flexibility as Petrie attempts to retool, because he surely can't believe this club - as presently constituted - can compete for a championship.
He has to be gazing into the future. He has to be.
The Western Conference is weak, although not yet deceased, and until further notice - and one need only refer to the 2004 Detroit Pistons - defense and rebounding wins championships. Let's see how those frisky Phoenix Suns and their barrage of three-pointers fare in the postseason, when the game slows and the defenses stiffen; then let's talk about having fun and running up the score and trying to exploit the absence of dominant low-post stars and aggressive shot-blockers.
The Jason Williams-led Kings were fun, too, for a while. The Vlade Divac-orchestrated Kings were even more enjoyable, for a longer while. The biggest difference between recent Kings teams is one of pacing: The Kings were an exciting, fast-
breaking club with Williams, an exquisite, classic offensive unit with Divac at the high post, and, within recent months, at least an occasionally efficient, promising squad with Christie handling the playmaking duties.
Yet something has always been lost in transition. The Kings have remained prisoners of the jump shot, the pick-and-roll, the deep three-pointer. Now the frontcourt of Chris Webber and Brad Miller is not only agonizingly slow (see those sluggish defensive rotations), but Jackson is ailing and Christie is gone, with all of this leaving critical questions regarding an increasingly erratic offense unanswered: Who sacrifices shots? Who directs the offense? Who balances the offense? How do four scorers play with one ball?
In his own cerebral, subtle way, Christie pressured his teammates to share the goods. He has been the shooting guard in name only, the selfless veteran who finds Stojakovic on backdoor cuts, who badgers Miller into launching the rare jumpers, who relieves Mike Bibby of true point-guard responsibilities. Bibby, in fact, might be the most adversely affected by this deal. At his best, he's stroking 18-footers, slicing to the basket with his change-of-pace dribbles, converting seemingly every clutch shot and selectively finding Webber in the two-man game.
But Bibby has worn out the left side of the floor, becoming too predictable with his entry passes to Webber, often at the exclusion of his other teammates, particularly Stojakovic. (It seems as if only Christie remembers this guy finished second in scoring last season.) Now Bibby has to run the point, create the plays, continue converting clutch shots and hope the undersized Mobley - who averaged a meager 1.8 assists in Orlando - can somewhat contain Ray Allen, Kobe Bryant, Tracy McGrady and the NBA's other long, lean, high-scoring guards.
"We'll see how it works," Petrie said. "Cuttino gives us a different look. There are all kinds of possibilities."
There has to be more to come. There has to be.
Ailene Voisin: Latest trade gives Petrie flexibility
By Ailene Voisin -- Bee Sports Columnist
Published 2:15 am PST Wednesday, January 12, 2005
So, OK, the thrill is gone, the buzz replaced by a complacent rap and the screeching sounds of an Arco Arena gone quiet. The Kings needed a change, a dramatic maneuver, something to alter the dynamic.
But this swap for Cuttino Mobley?
Great. Now the Kings have four players who need their shots.
The players continue to exit, but the philosophy remains the same: You score, we score more. No one except Doug Christie, Bobby Jackson, and, to a lesser extent, Peja Stojakovic, ever wants to play defense around here. And just when it appears Geoff Petrie might make a deal to strengthen the club's glaring weakness - and, in truth, Christie's defensive skills have diminished with age - the boss executes yet another unconventional move.
He obtains another scorer. He acquires another shooting guard. He trades down in size, if also in age.
"This is a reasonable gamble," Petrie explained, "if you want to call it a gamble. We give up some size and versatility, but we got a guy who can drive and pass, can break his man down, can finish at the basket. And I think Cuttino can be adequate defensively. No one player was going to change our team defense. That comes down to a stronger commitment individually and working within the team concept."
Given Petrie's history of making one astute move after another, his ability to spend someone else's millions wisely, he certainly deserves the benefit of the doubt. From a business management/salary-cap perspective, Monday's trade for the 6-foot-4 Mobley, who was available largely because of his defensive lapses, also makes some sense for these reasons: 1) The Kings free themselves of the $8.2 million they were indebted to pay a 35-year-old Christie next season, thereby freeing millions to re-sign Stojakovic; 2) the $6.3 million owed Mobley next season also figures to be a non-
issue, since the former Orlando Magic veteran already has announced his intention to opt out; and 3), in general, the maneuver affords some flexibility as Petrie attempts to retool, because he surely can't believe this club - as presently constituted - can compete for a championship.
He has to be gazing into the future. He has to be.
The Western Conference is weak, although not yet deceased, and until further notice - and one need only refer to the 2004 Detroit Pistons - defense and rebounding wins championships. Let's see how those frisky Phoenix Suns and their barrage of three-pointers fare in the postseason, when the game slows and the defenses stiffen; then let's talk about having fun and running up the score and trying to exploit the absence of dominant low-post stars and aggressive shot-blockers.
The Jason Williams-led Kings were fun, too, for a while. The Vlade Divac-orchestrated Kings were even more enjoyable, for a longer while. The biggest difference between recent Kings teams is one of pacing: The Kings were an exciting, fast-
breaking club with Williams, an exquisite, classic offensive unit with Divac at the high post, and, within recent months, at least an occasionally efficient, promising squad with Christie handling the playmaking duties.
Yet something has always been lost in transition. The Kings have remained prisoners of the jump shot, the pick-and-roll, the deep three-pointer. Now the frontcourt of Chris Webber and Brad Miller is not only agonizingly slow (see those sluggish defensive rotations), but Jackson is ailing and Christie is gone, with all of this leaving critical questions regarding an increasingly erratic offense unanswered: Who sacrifices shots? Who directs the offense? Who balances the offense? How do four scorers play with one ball?
In his own cerebral, subtle way, Christie pressured his teammates to share the goods. He has been the shooting guard in name only, the selfless veteran who finds Stojakovic on backdoor cuts, who badgers Miller into launching the rare jumpers, who relieves Mike Bibby of true point-guard responsibilities. Bibby, in fact, might be the most adversely affected by this deal. At his best, he's stroking 18-footers, slicing to the basket with his change-of-pace dribbles, converting seemingly every clutch shot and selectively finding Webber in the two-man game.
But Bibby has worn out the left side of the floor, becoming too predictable with his entry passes to Webber, often at the exclusion of his other teammates, particularly Stojakovic. (It seems as if only Christie remembers this guy finished second in scoring last season.) Now Bibby has to run the point, create the plays, continue converting clutch shots and hope the undersized Mobley - who averaged a meager 1.8 assists in Orlando - can somewhat contain Ray Allen, Kobe Bryant, Tracy McGrady and the NBA's other long, lean, high-scoring guards.
"We'll see how it works," Petrie said. "Cuttino gives us a different look. There are all kinds of possibilities."
There has to be more to come. There has to be.
