BEE - Kings latest concern: Self-destruction

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This story was originally published in the Bee on Jan. 10, 1988

http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/basketball/kings/oldschool/story/11902566p-12789526c.html

Kings latest concern: Self-destruction

by R. E. Graswich (before he was demoted to "human interest" stuff)

Kings Old School: Originally published Jan. 10, 1988

A new opponent is waiting to mug the Sacramento Kings.

It's the Kings themselves.

As Sacramento staggers through a disappointing season, coach Bill Russell is concerned that the club may tear itself apart.

"The hardest thing to control is a team turning on itself," he said. "I think we've done a pretty good job of keeping that from happening, but it's difficult to control."

The Kings, who fell to 8-23 after losing to the Portland Trail Blazers 98-91 on Friday night, are a relatively close-knit team.

The players socialize together, console each other and are careful to speak in general terms when discussing the club's problems, avoiding criticism of specific teammates.

Typical were remarks by center LaSalle Thompson when asked about the Kings' defensive lapses in their 124-119 loss Thursday night to San Antonio.

"We're just not a good defensive team," he said. "We're not getting the effort from everyone. You can't have some guys who aren't committed to defense and some who are. You can't do it unless everyone is committed."

Still, repeated breakdowns and inconsistent efforts are wearing on the Kings, who have lost five of six.

"People say it's a simple game, and it is," Russell said. "But it's played by people, and people are complex."

When he took over the team last summer, Russell made numerous statements about the importance of teaching and motivating his players. ( But his quest to rebuild the Kings -- perennial NBA losers -- is easier to talk about than to accomplish.

Russell is still optimistic and insists that he sees progress, but he also sees problems.

Right now, perhaps the most troublesome area for Russell is the team's sagging morale.

"When the great teams go through bad times like we're in now, they react differently," he said. "When the great players are in a slump, you see them out on the floor two hours before a game, shooting the ball all by themselves. Our guys tend to show up about three minutes before they have to."

In trying to motivate his players, Russell falls back on lessons he learned from Red Auerbach, his coach with the Boston Celtics. Auerbach was considered a master of motivation. He knew which players to embarrass, which ones to praise and which ones to ignore.

Russell, an independent man who had been out of coaching for 10 years before joining the Kings, is struggling to find his way with his players.

He notes that the rebuilding process requires time, but time is running out for the Kings this season.

Unless they stage a remarkable turnaround, the Kings are headed for the NBA draft lottery this summer without a first-round pick.

"There are things we've got to change," Russell said. "We've got to make our players tougher. You look at the consistent winners, and you see they're tough. The NBA is all about mental toughness."

Russell had a reputation for toughness when leading the Celtics to 11 NBA championships. But again, he's finding that toughness isn't transmitted by close proximity or osmosis.

"We've got to keep working," he said. "We need to keep yelling and hollering and screaming or whatever it takes to make our guys tougher."

Some of the problems start in the Kings' dressing room, where the team establishes its expectations.

Ultimately, the Kings' strength may be the club's close-knit nature, providing that Russell can keep it intact.

Meantime, Russell is doing his best to stay optimistic. He notes even the slightest progress. "As strange as it may seem, we are making progress, even though it hasn't manifested itself in wins," Russell said. "We're playing better for longer stretches. That's progress."
 
I posted this NOT because I believe the team is in danger of self-destruction, but because I think there are parallels between the defensive problems now and those we had back then.

Tank pretty much said it all: ""We're just not a good defensive team," he said. "We're not getting the effort from everyone. You can't have some guys who aren't committed to defense and some who are. You can't do it unless everyone is committed."

All this is fine; but it begs the $64,000 question:

HOW do you get a team to COMMIT to defense???
 
Do they want to win? Of course.

Are they willing to work very hard and change a life-time of habits to do it?

THAT'S the tough question...

They are much more aware of their shortcomings than we are. Playing defense is going to be the key. Whether they do it now or finally realize down the stretch how important it is and try and do it then is up to them.
 
They started playing defense last year when the playoffs started. My guess is that they'll wait until then to try it again. It's kinda pathetic, but it's just the way this team is. I do think the young guys try to bring some much needed energy off of the bench, so that's a good sign.
 
And, at least in looking at the article above, it should be obvious that it's not a new problem and it's not specific to Rick Adelman and his style of coaching.

I'm hoping for more games like the one against SA. That was awesome - and something to hold up to prove they can play GOOD defense.
 
Blah blah blah...replace "Kings" in the article above with the names of 70% of the teams in the league, and the story will be relevant to them too. Very few teams play good defense. It's been said that the true mark of how good a team is defensively is their field goal percentage compared to their opponents. Right now Kings are shooting 45%, and opponents shooting 44%, pretty much of a wash. Here are the teams that are worse than the Kings in terms of FG% vs Opponents' FG%: Orlando, Washington, Seattle, Lakers, Toronto, Philly, NY, Milwalkee, Denver, Utah, Golden State, Indiana, Charlotte, Portland, Chicago, Chicago, Detroit, New Orleans, and New Jersey.

And it's not a matter of desire, work ethic, or habits that make great defensive teams. Petrie did not build this team for defense, and Adelman does not coach it. It's as simple as that. The only reason those two still have their jobs is because the Kings are entertaining. What is the difference between Adelman and Jerry Sloan? Adelman and Popovich? Adelman and Larry Brown? When a player doesn't play defense on the Kings, they shrug it off and they try to drop a three on the other end. When a player doesn't play defense on the Jazz, Spurs or Pistons, those coaches BENCH those players. Wow, what a concept.
 
Duc said:
Blah blah blah...replace "Kings" in the article above with the names of 70% of the teams in the league, and the story will be relevant to them too. Very few teams play good defense. It's been said that the true mark of how good a team is defensively is their field goal percentage compared to their opponents. Right now Kings are shooting 45%, and opponents shooting 44%, pretty much of a wash. Here are the teams that are worse than the Kings in terms of FG% vs Opponents' FG%: Orlando, Washington, Seattle, Lakers, Toronto, Philly, NY, Milwalkee, Denver, Utah, Golden State, Indiana, Charlotte, Portland, Chicago, Chicago, Detroit, New Orleans, and New Jersey.

And it's not a matter of desire, work ethic, or habits that make great defensive teams. Petrie did not build this team for defense, and Adelman does not coach it. It's as simple as that. The only reason those two still have their jobs is because the Kings are entertaining. What is the difference between Adelman and Jerry Sloan? Adelman and Popovich? Adelman and Larry Brown? When a player doesn't play defense on the Kings, they shrug it off and they try to drop a three on the other end. When a player doesn't play defense on the Jazz, Spurs or Pistons, those coaches BENCH those players. Wow, what a concept.

You really should have read the article first. If you had, you would have noticed that it was about the 1987-88 KINGS and NOT our current team. I posted it simply to show that being concerned about defense has been part and parcel of this team since way back then.
 
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