http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/story/13702921p-14545585c.html
By Sam Amick
They took the floor in the old and trusty purple and white digs, even though there was nothing old or trusty about these Kings. Perhaps the recently revealed gold jersey should have been worn, to match all the rusty newness at Arco Arena on Tuesday night and honor the fans who stayed through the unflattering first showing.
The inaugural glance at the new Kings was a shield-your-eyes sort of peek, as the Dallas Mavericks notched a meaningless 96-83 win and Kings coach Rick Adelman was nowhere close to being won over.
Instead of dissecting so many individual performances afterward - per preseason protocol - he was speaking in midseason form, hammering the collective squad for a lack of effort, lack of focus and lack of anything near cohesion.
The Kings were outrebounded 36-26 and allowed the Mavericks to shoot 55.6 percent from the field.
"We've got to be better than that," Adelman said. "The guys came out and were not aggressive. Dallas was much more aggressive than we were. I thought that was very poor. We let them do pretty much what they wanted to do.
"We've got a long ways to go."
The first impression was a half-drawn painting of sorts, nothing like the Kings of old and still a ways off from the Kings of new.
Unless, that is, Brian Skinner will be the one carrying the offensive load. The backup center was the best thing going for the Kings early, hitting layups, dunking, even mixing in a soft floater from inside as the Mavericks doubled up the Kings 30-15 late in the first quarter.
And he hadn't even started the game. Adelman went with Mike Bibby, Bonzi Wells, Peja Stojakovic, Kenny Thomas and Brad Miller at tipoff. But Stojakovic missed his first three shots, Wells started slow in what amounted to a frustrating debut (2-for-7 shooting, six points), and the Mavericks were off and running. Dallas had five players score in double figures, with guard Marquis Daniels scoring a team-high 18 points.
"Coach is right," said Stojakovic, who was 1 for 7 for five points in nearly 25 minutes of play. "You can't expect smoothness on the offensive end with us, but you've got to give energy (defensively). You could see that this is a new team out there that hadn't played together."
Despite needing to decide on 13 players before the regular season arrives, Adelman played just 11 until the final three minutes, when forward Jamal Sampson and point guard Ronnie Price saw action.
After the mystery of the power forward spot was solved for one game when Thomas started, it did nothing to spoil the introduction of Shareef Abdur-Rahim. The nine-year veteran who was signed in August was solid, scoring down low with 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting in nearly 23 minutes and tallying four assists.
Thomas recovered from a few early misses to produce as well, hitting 5 of 8 shots for 10 points and five rebounds in nearly 26 minutes to illuminate what Adelman has said all along - that both players will be vital regardless of who starts.
"I felt OK, but I can do better," Abdur-Rahim said. "I felt a little out of place at times, but we'll figure it out."
The first shot of rookie draft pick Francisco García's career was a three-pointer that missed the rim and banged off the backboard. It was the first of six three-pointers Adelman said he'd rather see Garcia resist, though he did make two of them.
"I thought he shot too many threes," Adelman said. "There were times when he forced it."
Backup point guard Jason Hart looked capable of spelling Bibby with a different style, as he was pesky on defense and brought one of the few high-energy efforts.
"What I can do when I come in a game is pick the defensive intensity up, and I'll do that night in and night out," Hart said. "When you come off the bench, you've got to bring energy. You can't be like, 'Duh?' That's what I was telling García and (Kevin) Martin."
By Sam Amick
They took the floor in the old and trusty purple and white digs, even though there was nothing old or trusty about these Kings. Perhaps the recently revealed gold jersey should have been worn, to match all the rusty newness at Arco Arena on Tuesday night and honor the fans who stayed through the unflattering first showing.
The inaugural glance at the new Kings was a shield-your-eyes sort of peek, as the Dallas Mavericks notched a meaningless 96-83 win and Kings coach Rick Adelman was nowhere close to being won over.
Instead of dissecting so many individual performances afterward - per preseason protocol - he was speaking in midseason form, hammering the collective squad for a lack of effort, lack of focus and lack of anything near cohesion.
The Kings were outrebounded 36-26 and allowed the Mavericks to shoot 55.6 percent from the field.
"We've got to be better than that," Adelman said. "The guys came out and were not aggressive. Dallas was much more aggressive than we were. I thought that was very poor. We let them do pretty much what they wanted to do.
"We've got a long ways to go."
The first impression was a half-drawn painting of sorts, nothing like the Kings of old and still a ways off from the Kings of new.
Unless, that is, Brian Skinner will be the one carrying the offensive load. The backup center was the best thing going for the Kings early, hitting layups, dunking, even mixing in a soft floater from inside as the Mavericks doubled up the Kings 30-15 late in the first quarter.
And he hadn't even started the game. Adelman went with Mike Bibby, Bonzi Wells, Peja Stojakovic, Kenny Thomas and Brad Miller at tipoff. But Stojakovic missed his first three shots, Wells started slow in what amounted to a frustrating debut (2-for-7 shooting, six points), and the Mavericks were off and running. Dallas had five players score in double figures, with guard Marquis Daniels scoring a team-high 18 points.
"Coach is right," said Stojakovic, who was 1 for 7 for five points in nearly 25 minutes of play. "You can't expect smoothness on the offensive end with us, but you've got to give energy (defensively). You could see that this is a new team out there that hadn't played together."
Despite needing to decide on 13 players before the regular season arrives, Adelman played just 11 until the final three minutes, when forward Jamal Sampson and point guard Ronnie Price saw action.
After the mystery of the power forward spot was solved for one game when Thomas started, it did nothing to spoil the introduction of Shareef Abdur-Rahim. The nine-year veteran who was signed in August was solid, scoring down low with 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting in nearly 23 minutes and tallying four assists.
Thomas recovered from a few early misses to produce as well, hitting 5 of 8 shots for 10 points and five rebounds in nearly 26 minutes to illuminate what Adelman has said all along - that both players will be vital regardless of who starts.
"I felt OK, but I can do better," Abdur-Rahim said. "I felt a little out of place at times, but we'll figure it out."
The first shot of rookie draft pick Francisco García's career was a three-pointer that missed the rim and banged off the backboard. It was the first of six three-pointers Adelman said he'd rather see Garcia resist, though he did make two of them.
"I thought he shot too many threes," Adelman said. "There were times when he forced it."
Backup point guard Jason Hart looked capable of spelling Bibby with a different style, as he was pesky on defense and brought one of the few high-energy efforts.
"What I can do when I come in a game is pick the defensive intensity up, and I'll do that night in and night out," Hart said. "When you come off the bench, you've got to bring energy. You can't be like, 'Duh?' That's what I was telling García and (Kevin) Martin."
