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http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/basketball/kings/story/12078014p-12948125c.html
Ailene Voisin: Trade for Mobley has given the fans some new energy
By Ailene Voisin -- Bee Sports Columnist
Published 2:15 am PST Wednesday, January 19, 2005
Based on the early results - and that 3-0 record is certainly impressive - the Doug Christie-for-Cuttino Mobley swap was a great trade. Or at least a good trade. Check back on the details after the playoffs. Nonetheless, there isn't any denying the recent exchange of an older, respected veteran for a younger, more explosive scorer, has provoked impassioned debate and discussion, and as was apparent again Tuesday night, energized an audience that had become, well, complacent.
At the seven-year mark, with the Kings' sharp, upward mobility having been followed by the more recent "plateau," fans around here needed an infusion of passion, be it in pill form or player acquisition.
"In a one-sport town," guru Paul Swangard of the Warsaw Sports Marketing Center said recently, "you should feel a sort of buzz. The residents and the community should be connected in a way that you don't find in larger cities."
Once, it was like that in Portland. People loved their Trail Blazers and lobbied for tickets.
The slightest roster tinkering drove the community into a frenzy, with the constant attention elevating the local players into a sort of Beatlesesque stature. The only show in town was a never-ending series of hits, of dunks and three-pointers and an infectious disease known as Blazermania. Geoff Petrie was the original star, Bill Walton the resident hippie genius, Buck Williams and Terry Porter beloved civic icons, Rick Adelman the adopted son and L.A. transplant who proved to be a much better coach than player.
But then the Trail Blazers became the Jail Blazers, with the deposed Bob Whitsitt the chief villain for stubbornly signing the likes of Isaiah Rider and Bonzi Wells. These days, team president Steve Patterson and general manager John Nash head a regime that is attempting to clean up the mess, specifically by assembling a squad of good citizens that can also contend for a championship, sort of like the old days, when the worst that was whispered about the injury-prone Walton was he seldom showered.
So, OK, no one said the transition game was easy. At 15-22, the Blazers are off to their worst start since the 1975-76 season, slowed among other things, by injuries to Zach Randolph, Darius Miles and Theo Ratliff. But as was apparent last week, when the Blazers were on the road and the U.S. Figure Skating Championships were held at the Rose Garden, the repeated (and failed) attempts to recast themselves have left the locals looking for other ways to spend their money. When the skating championships attract a robust crowd the night travel advisories urged everyone to stay off the roads because of an ice storm, and the Blazers only manage two sellouts thus far this season, there is a lingering malaise.
As Oregonian columnist Steve Duin wrote Sunday, "... the excitement is missing ... the scars remain. The NBA has little charisma and the Blazers - who have inked mediocrity to a long-term contract - have less. Not that anyone notices. Or cares ... It feels like a curse, to the extent that we feel anything at all."
Patterson, a former executive with the Houston Rockets and one of the officials credited with securing an NFL franchise (Texans) and overseeing construction of Reliant Stadium, has his own theories. He cites regional fiscal concerns, including high unemployment rate, the departure and merger of several area corporations, and the always-escalating NBA ticket prices. Nor have the Blazers been immune: Since joining the club 18 months ago, he has trimmed approximately 100 jobs and reduced a team payroll from $100 million to $84 million.
"We're focused on trying to create a franchise that the community can be proud of, while at the same time bring some fiscal sanity to our own situation," Patterson said. "If you look at San Antonio, the way they operate their franchise, they have the flexibility to replace a David Robinson, and they get good people who are also great players. But it takes time to change a culture."
If the recent crowds at Arco are an accurate reflection, Petrie and the Maloofs are definitely clued in. The romance had to return, the in-house electricity restored, and while acquiring Mobley doesn't ensure an NBA Finals berth, combined with the youthful exuberance of Maurice Evans and Kevin Martin, it prompted Kings fans to start exercising their vocal chords Tuesday night. It had been a while.
Ailene Voisin: Trade for Mobley has given the fans some new energy
By Ailene Voisin -- Bee Sports Columnist
Published 2:15 am PST Wednesday, January 19, 2005
Based on the early results - and that 3-0 record is certainly impressive - the Doug Christie-for-Cuttino Mobley swap was a great trade. Or at least a good trade. Check back on the details after the playoffs. Nonetheless, there isn't any denying the recent exchange of an older, respected veteran for a younger, more explosive scorer, has provoked impassioned debate and discussion, and as was apparent again Tuesday night, energized an audience that had become, well, complacent.
At the seven-year mark, with the Kings' sharp, upward mobility having been followed by the more recent "plateau," fans around here needed an infusion of passion, be it in pill form or player acquisition.
"In a one-sport town," guru Paul Swangard of the Warsaw Sports Marketing Center said recently, "you should feel a sort of buzz. The residents and the community should be connected in a way that you don't find in larger cities."
Once, it was like that in Portland. People loved their Trail Blazers and lobbied for tickets.
The slightest roster tinkering drove the community into a frenzy, with the constant attention elevating the local players into a sort of Beatlesesque stature. The only show in town was a never-ending series of hits, of dunks and three-pointers and an infectious disease known as Blazermania. Geoff Petrie was the original star, Bill Walton the resident hippie genius, Buck Williams and Terry Porter beloved civic icons, Rick Adelman the adopted son and L.A. transplant who proved to be a much better coach than player.
But then the Trail Blazers became the Jail Blazers, with the deposed Bob Whitsitt the chief villain for stubbornly signing the likes of Isaiah Rider and Bonzi Wells. These days, team president Steve Patterson and general manager John Nash head a regime that is attempting to clean up the mess, specifically by assembling a squad of good citizens that can also contend for a championship, sort of like the old days, when the worst that was whispered about the injury-prone Walton was he seldom showered.
So, OK, no one said the transition game was easy. At 15-22, the Blazers are off to their worst start since the 1975-76 season, slowed among other things, by injuries to Zach Randolph, Darius Miles and Theo Ratliff. But as was apparent last week, when the Blazers were on the road and the U.S. Figure Skating Championships were held at the Rose Garden, the repeated (and failed) attempts to recast themselves have left the locals looking for other ways to spend their money. When the skating championships attract a robust crowd the night travel advisories urged everyone to stay off the roads because of an ice storm, and the Blazers only manage two sellouts thus far this season, there is a lingering malaise.
As Oregonian columnist Steve Duin wrote Sunday, "... the excitement is missing ... the scars remain. The NBA has little charisma and the Blazers - who have inked mediocrity to a long-term contract - have less. Not that anyone notices. Or cares ... It feels like a curse, to the extent that we feel anything at all."
Patterson, a former executive with the Houston Rockets and one of the officials credited with securing an NFL franchise (Texans) and overseeing construction of Reliant Stadium, has his own theories. He cites regional fiscal concerns, including high unemployment rate, the departure and merger of several area corporations, and the always-escalating NBA ticket prices. Nor have the Blazers been immune: Since joining the club 18 months ago, he has trimmed approximately 100 jobs and reduced a team payroll from $100 million to $84 million.
"We're focused on trying to create a franchise that the community can be proud of, while at the same time bring some fiscal sanity to our own situation," Patterson said. "If you look at San Antonio, the way they operate their franchise, they have the flexibility to replace a David Robinson, and they get good people who are also great players. But it takes time to change a culture."
If the recent crowds at Arco are an accurate reflection, Petrie and the Maloofs are definitely clued in. The romance had to return, the in-house electricity restored, and while acquiring Mobley doesn't ensure an NBA Finals berth, combined with the youthful exuberance of Maurice Evans and Kevin Martin, it prompted Kings fans to start exercising their vocal chords Tuesday night. It had been a while.
