http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/story/13940302p-14776909c.html
Loss makes Kings cringe
A flat outing leads to their first three-game skid of the season.
By Sam Amick -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PST Monday, December 5, 2005
The word hadn't come crawling out of their mouths in 21 days.
Back then, it was the second time it had reared its ugly head in a four-day stretch, when losses to Denver and Detroit were of the most confounding, one-sided nature.
"Embarrassed."
The Kings, that is. Embarrassed again.
Mike Bibby said it, as did Shareef Abdur-Rahim and Corliss Williamson. The only ones who didn't were the ones who weren't asked. And only then, the non-question was out of sheer fear of pounding the painful point.
The Kings suffered their first three-game losing streak of the season in futile fashion, losing 85-77 to Minnesota in one of those ignore-the-final-score affairs Sunday night at Arco Arena.
They pulled off quite the head-scratcher, shutting down one-time MVP Kevin Garnett and having it not matter in the slightest. Garnett had just seven points through three quarters, yet the Timberwolves led 66-54.
To that point, Kings coach Rick Adelman had seen his offense sputter in utter confusion as it hadn't since the season-opening debacle in Oklahoma City, his defense let Minnesota shoot 68.8 percent in the first quarter and allow the T-wolves to lead 48-36 at halftime despite 14 turnovers.
He had seen all matter of execution go by the wayside, with Kings passes bouncing off hands, shoulders and heads and the likes of Michael Olowokandi playing as if he was "the Big Ticket" for short stretches.
Most of this work came courtesy of the starters, so Adelman sent a clear message. He benched them.
Adelman inserted a lineup of Kenny Thomas, Brian Skinner, Jason Hart, Francisco García and Williamson to start the fourth. They would end it, too.
"I gave them enough time, and nothing was changing," Adelman said. "The group that went in there was competing, getting after it. We gave up 54 percent again in the first half. They had Olowokandi posting up, (Wally) Szczerbiak running off screens, and no one was even close to them. That kind of stuff shouldn't happen. And it happens because you're not playing hard enough."
Williamson and Skinner played plenty hard. Williamson said the onus remains on the players to figure out their quandary.
"I think it's our mentality," he said. "We're not tough. We don't approach the game right. ... You have to go out and play with the energy, make hard cuts and defend well in order to make the game easy. It's not going to be given to us."
It was the first time Skinner and Williamson had played in three games.
Adelman - who relied recently on Thomas, Hart and García off the bench - said, "I am to the point where maybe somebody else off the bench has to do something."
The starters surely didn't, combining for 39 points. Abdur-Rahim scored in single digits (six points) for the first time this season. Brad Miller went scoreless for the first time since April 4, 2003. The Kings were 1 for 10 from three-point range.
Szczerbiak and Troy Hudson worked around Garnett's off outing, combining for 35 points. Garnett finished with 11 points.
Minnesota ended the first half on a 10-0 run, with Szczerbiak dunking on a fast break to finish it after a Bibby turnover. The boos came for the first time then, though it would not be the last.
"Yeah, I am embarrassed," Bibby said. "I know we're better than what we're doing."
About the writer: The Bee's Sam Amick can be reached at (916) 326-5582 or samick@sacbee.com.
Loss makes Kings cringe
A flat outing leads to their first three-game skid of the season.
By Sam Amick -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PST Monday, December 5, 2005
The word hadn't come crawling out of their mouths in 21 days.
Back then, it was the second time it had reared its ugly head in a four-day stretch, when losses to Denver and Detroit were of the most confounding, one-sided nature.
"Embarrassed."
The Kings, that is. Embarrassed again.
Mike Bibby said it, as did Shareef Abdur-Rahim and Corliss Williamson. The only ones who didn't were the ones who weren't asked. And only then, the non-question was out of sheer fear of pounding the painful point.
The Kings suffered their first three-game losing streak of the season in futile fashion, losing 85-77 to Minnesota in one of those ignore-the-final-score affairs Sunday night at Arco Arena.
They pulled off quite the head-scratcher, shutting down one-time MVP Kevin Garnett and having it not matter in the slightest. Garnett had just seven points through three quarters, yet the Timberwolves led 66-54.
To that point, Kings coach Rick Adelman had seen his offense sputter in utter confusion as it hadn't since the season-opening debacle in Oklahoma City, his defense let Minnesota shoot 68.8 percent in the first quarter and allow the T-wolves to lead 48-36 at halftime despite 14 turnovers.
He had seen all matter of execution go by the wayside, with Kings passes bouncing off hands, shoulders and heads and the likes of Michael Olowokandi playing as if he was "the Big Ticket" for short stretches.
Most of this work came courtesy of the starters, so Adelman sent a clear message. He benched them.
Adelman inserted a lineup of Kenny Thomas, Brian Skinner, Jason Hart, Francisco García and Williamson to start the fourth. They would end it, too.
"I gave them enough time, and nothing was changing," Adelman said. "The group that went in there was competing, getting after it. We gave up 54 percent again in the first half. They had Olowokandi posting up, (Wally) Szczerbiak running off screens, and no one was even close to them. That kind of stuff shouldn't happen. And it happens because you're not playing hard enough."
Williamson and Skinner played plenty hard. Williamson said the onus remains on the players to figure out their quandary.
"I think it's our mentality," he said. "We're not tough. We don't approach the game right. ... You have to go out and play with the energy, make hard cuts and defend well in order to make the game easy. It's not going to be given to us."
It was the first time Skinner and Williamson had played in three games.
Adelman - who relied recently on Thomas, Hart and García off the bench - said, "I am to the point where maybe somebody else off the bench has to do something."
The starters surely didn't, combining for 39 points. Abdur-Rahim scored in single digits (six points) for the first time this season. Brad Miller went scoreless for the first time since April 4, 2003. The Kings were 1 for 10 from three-point range.
Szczerbiak and Troy Hudson worked around Garnett's off outing, combining for 35 points. Garnett finished with 11 points.
Minnesota ended the first half on a 10-0 run, with Szczerbiak dunking on a fast break to finish it after a Bibby turnover. The boos came for the first time then, though it would not be the last.
"Yeah, I am embarrassed," Bibby said. "I know we're better than what we're doing."
About the writer: The Bee's Sam Amick can be reached at (916) 326-5582 or samick@sacbee.com.
