the maloofs are emotional owners. they're incredibly reactionary. i don't fault them for yelling at adelman when they were frustrated. i did the same thing. they're owners, but they're fans, too. being a fan doesn't make you classless. even letting adelman go in the manner that they did wasn't classless. it certainly was in very poor taste, but i think the whole "classy" bit is far too overplayed. its not about being classy. its about treating employees and former employees with respect, regardless of how you are perceived in the media, and especially when said coach deserves it. i wish the maloofs hadn't let adelman go, and i'm pissed to all hell that they did...but classless is definitely a bit far.
my issue with the maloofs is not their level of emotion. emotion brought ron artest here. the maloofs aren't GM's...but they're not stupid, either. i accuse them of being reactionary fans, and slightly irresponsible owners for their recent PR slipus, but that's about it.
my issue with the maloofs is that they aren't real great at connecting the dots. they can preach that the team needs a more defensive mindset. well...that's a given, but at least they want to help change the makeup of the team. so they bring in defensive specialist ron artest. bold move...but very smart move, and one that petrie doesn't make on his own. period. however, bringing in ron artest and containing/controlling/retaining ron artest are very different things. adelman is a coach that brought out the coachability in ron artest--a presumably uncoachable player. a hard-assed defensive-minded coach may not be the best thing for ron, and while i'm not one to believe in catering to specific players feelings, the volatilty of ron artest is such that the kings can continue to prosper, or the worst that many people predicted could happen, and ron artest could blow up in our faces, refuse to respond to an unwilling coach, demand to be traded, etc. i said from the beginning that i thought rick adelman would be able to contain ron...at least moreso than any other coach could...but he's gone now, and some other coach gets that daunting task.
i'm not so worried about bonzi wells. i don't believe he was ever as bad as people made him out to be. he's brutish as a player, but thats what we want. as a person, he's matured. he recognizes that he can't play the "young, dumb kid" card anymore. he's got a family to look out for, and a child to set an example for. he likely will never be a saint, but i don't think his behavior is gonna be much of an issue. i'm more worried about the attitude of, say, kenny thomas. he's just kinduva jerk who brings his best game when he feels so inclined.
point is, i know i, personally, overreacted to the release of adelman. i still believe i'm right, but i know why the maloofs did it. i just don't think they see the bigger picture. they have no idea where they want to go from here. they've never been through the hiring process when it comes to head coaches, and simply wanting the experience doesn't justify the release of an excellent coach, especially when candidates for his succession who are also equals are hard to come by. its a HUGE risk, and an uncalculated one. if they pull it off, then they look like geniuses and kings fans are happy again. if it fails, and the kings miss the playoffs, lets say, they might just be run out of town as opposed to being begged to stay. hyperbole or not, that seems like a likely scenario. i have a hard time envisioning a future in which the kings get an arena deal done if the team they field and the coach they choose are not winners.
And all this crying over a coach who makes about $2,000,000 a year...Rick will be fine, his next employer will probably pay him more than the Maloofs, he'll be fine. All I want, as a fan since day one, is a Championship dammit, and the Maloofs are making the moves that they feel will bring that to OUR city.(oh, btw, they dont own Coors, they own the west coast distribution and marketing rights, and for quite some time now)
