http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/basketball/kings/story/13953724p-14788173c.html
Kings fear reliving their pasts
The losing brings back bad memories for a few players.
By Sam Amick -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PST Thursday, December 8, 2005
The question was elementary, the answer mostly known already, but the query was pertinent nonetheless.
"How many people have been on a losing team in this league?" Kings coach Rick Adelman asked his team one day after a loss to Cleveland brought its losing streak to four games. "It's no fun. Is that what you want?"
Nearly every man who matters for the Kings has been to the dark side of the NBA.
Mike Bibby's torturous time was in Vancouver - or, as he calls it in not-so-fond remembrance, "purgatory." The Grizzlies were woeful in ways these Kings couldn't imagine, winning just 53 of the 214 games in his three seasons.
Shareef Abdur-Rahim arrived in Vancouver before Bibby did, losing at the same painful pace before meeting the same fate in Atlanta and Portland.
Brad Miller is already losing sleep with the Kings' 7-11 start, but it's nothing like the 2000-01 season in Chicago, where he endured a 67-loss campaign and most of the 61-loss effort that followed.
The task from here is one of keeping so many personal histories from repeating, all while avoiding anymore unfavorable entries in the Kings' annals. With Houston in town tonight, a five-game losing streak would be the Kings' first since the 1997-98 season, when the team finished 27-55, losing 26 of its last 29 games.
"A lot of us have been through situations that weren't too (good)," Miller said. "(The four consecutive losses) is enough losing for the rest of the month ... . You've just got to stay tough."
And motivated.
Adelman said he's trying a variety of tactics to find the necessary focus.
"You just try all kinds of different things," he said. "Today, you would think they'd be pretty embarrassed by what they saw on film (from Tuesday's loss to Cleveland). You go back out on the floor and just keep hitting it and hitting it.
"Sometimes you yell, sometimes you don't yell. Sometimes you do ask them, you know, what do you want?"
With every loss, though, comes the question of confidence. During the four-game losing streak, the Kings have seen staples of their system vanish, from their once-dangerous three-point shot (7 for 41 in the last three games) to Peja Stojakovic's accuracy (16 for 55 in the last four) to Abdur-Rahim's dwindling contributions on the boards (17 rebounds in the last four games).
Abdur-Rahim said the ball just isn't bouncing their way lately.
Literally.
"Sometimes you get crazy bounces, and it's one thing if we'd won five in a row and you could shake stuff like that off," he said. "But when you're in a tough span, it's hard. You can just see it on guys' faces, like that woe-is-me attitude, getting back on your heels. That's really the last thing you want to do in a situation like this."
Then comes the question of confidence.
"A lot of it is confidence," Abdur-Rahim said. "You see players individually get rolling, just playing beyond themselves, teams get rolling. It's the same thing with teams in our situation, when you look at them and say, 'Man, they should be better.' I think we just have to continue to believe in ourselves, believe in each other and get us a win to get our confidence up."
The Rockets offer a chance at revenge from the Kings' slow start. Houston outlasted the Kings 98-89 Nov. 2, when former King Jon Barry scored 24 points off the bench.
"There's still a ways to go for us (in the season), so we can be optimistic," Stojakovic said. "We have to stay together and believe in ourselves. That's the only way we can get out of this problem."
About the writer: The Bee's Sam Amick can be reached at (916) 326-5582 or samick@sacbee.com.
Kings fear reliving their pasts
The losing brings back bad memories for a few players.
By Sam Amick -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PST Thursday, December 8, 2005
The question was elementary, the answer mostly known already, but the query was pertinent nonetheless.
"How many people have been on a losing team in this league?" Kings coach Rick Adelman asked his team one day after a loss to Cleveland brought its losing streak to four games. "It's no fun. Is that what you want?"
Nearly every man who matters for the Kings has been to the dark side of the NBA.
Mike Bibby's torturous time was in Vancouver - or, as he calls it in not-so-fond remembrance, "purgatory." The Grizzlies were woeful in ways these Kings couldn't imagine, winning just 53 of the 214 games in his three seasons.
Shareef Abdur-Rahim arrived in Vancouver before Bibby did, losing at the same painful pace before meeting the same fate in Atlanta and Portland.
Brad Miller is already losing sleep with the Kings' 7-11 start, but it's nothing like the 2000-01 season in Chicago, where he endured a 67-loss campaign and most of the 61-loss effort that followed.
The task from here is one of keeping so many personal histories from repeating, all while avoiding anymore unfavorable entries in the Kings' annals. With Houston in town tonight, a five-game losing streak would be the Kings' first since the 1997-98 season, when the team finished 27-55, losing 26 of its last 29 games.
"A lot of us have been through situations that weren't too (good)," Miller said. "(The four consecutive losses) is enough losing for the rest of the month ... . You've just got to stay tough."
And motivated.
Adelman said he's trying a variety of tactics to find the necessary focus.
"You just try all kinds of different things," he said. "Today, you would think they'd be pretty embarrassed by what they saw on film (from Tuesday's loss to Cleveland). You go back out on the floor and just keep hitting it and hitting it.
"Sometimes you yell, sometimes you don't yell. Sometimes you do ask them, you know, what do you want?"
With every loss, though, comes the question of confidence. During the four-game losing streak, the Kings have seen staples of their system vanish, from their once-dangerous three-point shot (7 for 41 in the last three games) to Peja Stojakovic's accuracy (16 for 55 in the last four) to Abdur-Rahim's dwindling contributions on the boards (17 rebounds in the last four games).
Abdur-Rahim said the ball just isn't bouncing their way lately.
Literally.
"Sometimes you get crazy bounces, and it's one thing if we'd won five in a row and you could shake stuff like that off," he said. "But when you're in a tough span, it's hard. You can just see it on guys' faces, like that woe-is-me attitude, getting back on your heels. That's really the last thing you want to do in a situation like this."
Then comes the question of confidence.
"A lot of it is confidence," Abdur-Rahim said. "You see players individually get rolling, just playing beyond themselves, teams get rolling. It's the same thing with teams in our situation, when you look at them and say, 'Man, they should be better.' I think we just have to continue to believe in ourselves, believe in each other and get us a win to get our confidence up."
The Rockets offer a chance at revenge from the Kings' slow start. Houston outlasted the Kings 98-89 Nov. 2, when former King Jon Barry scored 24 points off the bench.
"There's still a ways to go for us (in the season), so we can be optimistic," Stojakovic said. "We have to stay together and believe in ourselves. That's the only way we can get out of this problem."
About the writer: The Bee's Sam Amick can be reached at (916) 326-5582 or samick@sacbee.com.
