Bee: Mark Kreidler: Big issue: Backup at small forward

[Warhawk]

http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/basketball/kings/story/13698608p-14541332c.html


Ideally, he gets his points in smaller bursts of action. Ideally, he's so efficient that he can shave game minutes off his résumé without any noticeable decline in either production or team impact.

But you can't rest Peja Stojakovic if you don't know what happens when Stojakovic comes off the floor. And as of this minute, that is Rick Adelman's mystery to unravel.

There's actually no way to make the subject sexy, which means this must be training camp. But in the It'll-matter-a-helluva-lot-come-February category, we present the great Peja conversation.


Which is: After Stojakovic, whom?

You can ask it another way, since Adelman does: After Peja, what? What does the Kings' offense become, exactly?

"You look at all the different scenarios you can have," Adelman said after Monday's workout, the Kings' final practice before tonight's exhibition opener against Dallas. "If it's Francisco (García), then you're going to have a different type of team out there. If it's Corliss (Williamson) or Kenny (Thomas) - or Bonzi (Wells) - it's a different type of team."

Different, not always meaning better. Different, sometimes meaning, "So how do we make this work, again?"

"I'm not locking in to anything right now," Adelman said. "I do think we have some flexibility that we didn't have before."

Of course, flexibility and certainty are two different - but equally valuable - currencies in the NBA. Adelman has the one. Not all the way there yet on the other.

Entering this camp, the question of who would spell Stojakovic at small forward was perhaps the most obvious one after the Thomas-Shareef Abdur-Rahim decision at power forward. But the conversation at the four spot revolves exclusively around who gets the lion's share of the minutes. In the Peja discussion, the questions are more complex.

What does the offense look like when the small forward with the big perimeter game leaves the floor? Who gets those minutes?

Most significantly, if it's nobody about whom Adelman has a firm conviction or high confidence, does that mean we see Peja's legs fall off like wheels on a trashed car with a broken axle? Or does that kind of wear and tear just come with the territory?

"I'm used to it," Stojakovic said with a smile. "I'd rather be on the court than sitting, no doubt about that."

As his Kings tenure can attest, Adelman sure would rather Stojakovic be there as well. Last year, his seventh in the NBA, Stojakovic pounded the floor to the tune of 38.4 minutes per regular-season game and nearly 41 per playoff game.

But the man is no automaton. Last season, Stojakovic missed 16 games, some because of back spasms and a bunch because of hamstring issues. This just in: He wears down.

In camp, Stojakovic looks to be the picture of vitality; but it's a grind, the season. If Adelman dials up those kinds of minutes for his 28-year-old forward this time around, he does so at his - and the team's - peril.

For all the great debates that Stojakovic inspires among Kings fans (he's too soft; he's the centrifugal force of the franchise; he needed to be freed from Chris Webber; you can't lead if you don't rebound), the great no-brainer in the deal is the part about the Kings needing him in order to win. They absolutely do.

But they need the productive Stojakovic, not the wounded one. They need the Stojakovic who can hit his jumper from anywhere on the floor because he has enough bounce in his step to make that happen. And Adelman can't have that unless he finds the rest that his veteran is going to need.

García, the rookie draft pick, has impressed the vets - including Stojakovic, who Monday called him "obviously a great talent" - during summer work and the camp so far, but of course he's a rookie. Adelman sounds enamored of scooting Wells over to the three-spot sometimes and Kevin Martin to the shooting-guard spot, to see if their chemistry is as good as the coach thinks it could be. Williamson can play there. Thomas can. Look, it's a Geoff Petrie dream roster, with versatility falling out of the cubbyholes like lint balls. But as of today, no firm answer behind Stojakovic. We'll wake you in February, when it might make all the difference in the world.

 

[AriesMar27]

so whats new? i still miss hedo.... i miss him even more now.... if martin pans out do you think we could trade bonzi to orlando at the deadline?

 

[Bricklayer]

so whats new? i still miss hedo.... i miss him even more now.... if martin pans out do you think we could trade bonzi to orlando at the deadline?

If Bonzi pans out, we may not want to. There has long been a school of thought that this is a potential 20pt scorer if he gets his head screw on straight.

Certainly is the way things could pan out next summer though -- let Bonzi walk, hand job to Martin/Cisco, use Bonzi's money to max out Peja.

 

[VF21]

For all the great debates that Stojakovic inspires among Kings fans (he's too soft; he's the centrifugal force of the franchise; he needed to be freed from Chris Webber; you can't lead if you don't rebound), the great no-brainer in the deal is the part about the Kings needing him in order to win. They absolutely do.

But they need the productive Stojakovic, not the wounded one. They need the Stojakovic who can hit his jumper from anywhere on the floor because he has enough bounce in his step to make that happen. And Adelman can't have that unless he finds the rest that his veteran is going to need.

That's pretty much it in a nutshell.

This year, contract negotiations aside, fans are going to see some very interesting developments on the court IMHO. The possible permutations are intriguing, to say the least...

GO KINGS!!!!!

 

[Kings113]

Well, there'll surely be someone that fits behind Peja when he is rested. And 1-3 others if needed. Rick just has to take advantage of that, and I think he will, whereas the last two, he pretty much couldn't.

 

[Netguy115]

this article makes it seem that Peja is old. He's 28 for God's sake! Sure he'll wear down if he's playing 38-41 mpg this year....that's common sense. But this article acts as if he'll just fall over and die if he plays too much.

And who's behind Peja? What a stupid question, the article even anwered itself. Francisco Garcia, Corliss Williamson, and maybe Kenny Thomas that's who.

What is even stupider is how he writes how the the line-up will be "different" and not as good when he's sitting down....thank you Cpt. Obvious. That's why the people behind him are called 2nd-stringers

 

[VF21]

this article makes it seem that Peja is old. He's 28 for God's sake! Sure he'll wear down if he's playing 38-41 mpg this year....that's common sense. But this article acts as if he'll just fall over and die if he plays too much.

And who's behind Peja? What a stupid question, the article even anwered itself. Francisco Garcia, Corliss Williamson, and maybe Kenny Thomas that's who.

What is even stupider is how he writes how the the line-up will be "different" and not as good when he's sitting down....thank you Cpt. Obvious. That's why the people behind him are called 2nd-stringers

No, the article doesn't make it seem that Peja is old. What Kreidler is saying - and accurately so - is that we have to have a GOOD backup for Peja, who simply cannot play massive minutes all season and be expected to have anything left at crunch time. Considering what we've seen the past few years, I think it's a pretty safe statement to make.

The big question IS, in fact, who is going to step into the backup SF role. You act as though it's a done deal and it's anything but. Garcia is a rookie, Corliss is a SF but not a very effective one, especially on offense, and Kenny Thomas doesn't see himself in a backup 3 role.

Not every person who picks up the Bee has followed the Kings. When you write a column for a newspaper you have to strike a compromise between assuming your readers know everything and assuming they know nothing.

Personally, I found the article - once again - to be a good overview of the Kings and the small forward position.

But as of today, no firm answer behind Stojakovic. We'll wake you in February, when it might make all the difference in the world.

It's an ongoing question - and I think Kreidler has presented it pretty well, as usual.

 

[Netguy115]

I guess its true that there's no obvious real backup SF, but there's plenty of SG's that can move up to SF to back him up, and a couple PF's that can move down to back him up. We don't have to just have one guy as his set backup, many people can be coming off the bench filling different holes as needed.

And seriously, when does a guy actually have one solid backup on the bench that, when the starter isn't in, he always is? That rarely happens.

Still, the part of that article where he talks about how the team won't be as good when he's off the floor was laughable.

 

[allrightythen]

I like the article and while we had the exact same question and issue this time last season I feel a little better about it this season. I would put a little more responsibility on Adelman this year simply because I think we have a little more talent than we did going into last year (or at least the talent we have is more spread out). The only real unknown behind Peja is Garcia, we pretty much know what we can get from the rest of the guys that might play there. As Kreidler points out, there are lots of options, all of which may be very important, the question is which one will it be? Will Rick go with the one he thinks will give him the best matchup? Will he stick with a normal rotation? Either way, he has to do something to ensure that Peja is fresh when it matters.

Once again, good article by Kreidler.

 

[Warhawk]

I guess its true that there's no obvious real backup SF, but there's plenty of SG's that can move up to SF to back him up, and a couple PF's that can move down to back him up. We don't have to just have one guy as his set backup, many people can be coming off the bench filling different holes as needed.

And seriously, when does a guy actually have one solid backup on the bench that, when the starter isn't in, he always is? That rarely happens.

Still, the part of that article where he talks about how the team won't be as good when he's off the floor was laughable.

I believe that is the point he is trying to make.

We pretty much have set backups for every position (Hart, Martin, KT or SAR, depending on who is the starter, and Skinner) We have several options for the 3. Reread the article - and understand that none of the proposed backups are either A) a natural fit at the NBA level, B) have played that position at an NBA level, or C) ar as offensively talented as Peja (who does fairly well on the other end too). I think the article is pretty accurate.

Now, if you are not looking for scoring, then maybe you are right, as in there are different guys to plug in there for matchups, etc, but that is true for any position. RA likes to use set rotations, and as of right now we are guessing at Peja's backup.

 

[VF21]

I guess its true that there's no obvious real backup SF, but there's plenty of SG's that can move up to SF to back him up, and a couple PF's that can move down to back him up. We don't have to just have one guy as his set backup, many people can be coming off the bench filling different holes as needed.

And seriously, when does a guy actually have one solid backup on the bench that, when the starter isn't in, he always is? That rarely happens.

Still, the part of that article where he talks about how the team won't be as good when he's off the floor was laughable.

Would you please quote the exact part you're referring to because I must really be missing something...