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Mark Kreidler: Ostertag: Rare failure for successful system
By Mark Kreidler -- Bee Sports Columnist
Published 2:15 am PST Tuesday, March 15, 2005
And so now Rick Adelman proceeds to the next phase of Operation Accessibility, which, as it turns out, is the one right before moving on to jabbing No. 2 pencils directly into one's eye sockets.
For as long as he has been around Sacramento, Adelman has been the man running on the freedom ticket. He's the coach whose system is said to work because so many different types of NBA players can come in and find a way to fit, and are given the broad latitude to do so.
And now all of that needs to prove true, and immediately. And it has to work for just about everybody else on the Kings' roster, since it already has found its staggering exception to the rule in Greg Ostertag.
Wait: Was it just last week we pondered the possibility of a deep playoff push for the lads Maloof?
Missed it by that much.
Monday was the day for somberly reckoning with the big stuff around the place once known as Camp Happy Happy Joy Joy.
Chris Webber is Philadelphia's hard case now. Brad Miller just layup-drilled his way into injury infamy. Brian Skinner, Corliss Williamson and Kenny Thomas have become not only Sacramento's surrogate big men, but also the last best hope for this team pulling itself together in time to crash the playoffs and make any sort of noise.
And over to one side sits Ostertag, all 7 feet and 2 inches of him, mostly useless, mostly idling and almost completely off the coach's radar.
There are reasons, and we can get into them, but the bottom line is that at the precise moment when a system's success would have brought the big man to the fore to offset the crippling loss of Miller in the offense, Ostertag has moved to the back of the line.
"I don't have time. I can't have the patience to wait to see if he comes through," Adelman said of Ostertag at the team's practice facility. As Adelman spoke, Ostertag stood a few feet away, telling reporters that he blamed himself for thinking that he would use game minutes to play himself back into shape after breaking his right hand during the preseason.
As it turns out, there are virtually no game minutes to be had, and Ostertag, by his own reckoning, remains well behind his normal conditioning level, which wasn't exactly Karl Malone-sharp to begin with. Adelman is blunt: The other guys are better, albeit undeniably shorter.
"If you play Greg, then you're taking time away from Kenny and Corliss and Darius (Songaila) and Brian, who may be more effective for you all the way around, and that's where I'm at right now," Adelman said. "I'm going to play the people who give us the best chance to win."
The funny, likeable Ostertag represents a failure on every front - player, coach, design, acquisition, everything. One colossal bust. And it's only stunning considering the history, which suggests that the Kings have outperformed most of the NBA over the years in terms of what they get out of the talent they bring in.
Webber's immediate struggles in Philly may not last (or, shoot, they could last forever), but there's no question that he absolutely thrived - for as long as he was healthy - in Adelman's free-form system in Sacramento. It was the same system, in which Adelman allows his players to improvise and find a running rhythm together, that made Jason Williams an NBA phenomenon and flogged life into a dying franchise at Arco Arena.
Vlade Divac had the best years of his career playing for Adelman. Bobby Jackson became a Sixth Man of the Year playing for Adelman. Jim Jackson revived his professional life there. Peja Stojakovic, Vernon Maxwell, Anthony Peeler -- it's no secret. Players generally like the system and generally like the man who runs it, which may explain why so many of them (Jon Barry, Scot Pollard, Doug Christie, on and on) do great things in Sacramento and then struggle to recapture that magic when they go elsewhere.
"He's really patient - really patient - and really laid-back," said Skinner, who has gone from deep on the bench in Philadelphia to a front-line starter under Adelman. "Players just respect him."
Skinner compared Adelman's standing in the locker room to a coach he played for briefly in Toronto, Lenny Wilkens. Kind words, but Adelman right now is a man in the closest thing to a crisis that a winning coach can be.
Ostertag's season-long absence of impact meant Miller had to stay healthy. It wasn't that Ostertag could do what Miller does, but that a big body is a big body. Even in the revamped Western Conference, with its emphasis on sleek, athletic forwards, a big man who can alter a game is gold bullion.
Miller's injury might have been the time for Ostertag to step forward, but he's just not capable. Adelman says Ostertag never did adjust to the system, in which centers and power forwards are so crucial to the offensive flow. If so, it's a fairly shocking swing and miss by executive Geoff Petrie, who doesn't miss often on talent fits.
Result: No 'Tag, and no true center through which to run even part of the offense. So now it is Adelman adjusting on the fly, trying belatedly to shift that responsibility to Mike Bibby and Cuttino Mobley.
"And even Peja's going to have to step up, because the other (new) guys aren't comfortable doing it," Adelman said. They need to get comfortable soon. All of which is to say that the celebrated Adelman system, once again, is on trial for its life.
http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/basketball/kings/story/12565929p-13420907c.html
By Mark Kreidler -- Bee Sports Columnist
Published 2:15 am PST Tuesday, March 15, 2005
And so now Rick Adelman proceeds to the next phase of Operation Accessibility, which, as it turns out, is the one right before moving on to jabbing No. 2 pencils directly into one's eye sockets.
For as long as he has been around Sacramento, Adelman has been the man running on the freedom ticket. He's the coach whose system is said to work because so many different types of NBA players can come in and find a way to fit, and are given the broad latitude to do so.
And now all of that needs to prove true, and immediately. And it has to work for just about everybody else on the Kings' roster, since it already has found its staggering exception to the rule in Greg Ostertag.
Wait: Was it just last week we pondered the possibility of a deep playoff push for the lads Maloof?
Missed it by that much.
Monday was the day for somberly reckoning with the big stuff around the place once known as Camp Happy Happy Joy Joy.
Chris Webber is Philadelphia's hard case now. Brad Miller just layup-drilled his way into injury infamy. Brian Skinner, Corliss Williamson and Kenny Thomas have become not only Sacramento's surrogate big men, but also the last best hope for this team pulling itself together in time to crash the playoffs and make any sort of noise.
And over to one side sits Ostertag, all 7 feet and 2 inches of him, mostly useless, mostly idling and almost completely off the coach's radar.
There are reasons, and we can get into them, but the bottom line is that at the precise moment when a system's success would have brought the big man to the fore to offset the crippling loss of Miller in the offense, Ostertag has moved to the back of the line.
"I don't have time. I can't have the patience to wait to see if he comes through," Adelman said of Ostertag at the team's practice facility. As Adelman spoke, Ostertag stood a few feet away, telling reporters that he blamed himself for thinking that he would use game minutes to play himself back into shape after breaking his right hand during the preseason.
As it turns out, there are virtually no game minutes to be had, and Ostertag, by his own reckoning, remains well behind his normal conditioning level, which wasn't exactly Karl Malone-sharp to begin with. Adelman is blunt: The other guys are better, albeit undeniably shorter.
"If you play Greg, then you're taking time away from Kenny and Corliss and Darius (Songaila) and Brian, who may be more effective for you all the way around, and that's where I'm at right now," Adelman said. "I'm going to play the people who give us the best chance to win."
The funny, likeable Ostertag represents a failure on every front - player, coach, design, acquisition, everything. One colossal bust. And it's only stunning considering the history, which suggests that the Kings have outperformed most of the NBA over the years in terms of what they get out of the talent they bring in.
Webber's immediate struggles in Philly may not last (or, shoot, they could last forever), but there's no question that he absolutely thrived - for as long as he was healthy - in Adelman's free-form system in Sacramento. It was the same system, in which Adelman allows his players to improvise and find a running rhythm together, that made Jason Williams an NBA phenomenon and flogged life into a dying franchise at Arco Arena.
Vlade Divac had the best years of his career playing for Adelman. Bobby Jackson became a Sixth Man of the Year playing for Adelman. Jim Jackson revived his professional life there. Peja Stojakovic, Vernon Maxwell, Anthony Peeler -- it's no secret. Players generally like the system and generally like the man who runs it, which may explain why so many of them (Jon Barry, Scot Pollard, Doug Christie, on and on) do great things in Sacramento and then struggle to recapture that magic when they go elsewhere.
"He's really patient - really patient - and really laid-back," said Skinner, who has gone from deep on the bench in Philadelphia to a front-line starter under Adelman. "Players just respect him."
Skinner compared Adelman's standing in the locker room to a coach he played for briefly in Toronto, Lenny Wilkens. Kind words, but Adelman right now is a man in the closest thing to a crisis that a winning coach can be.
Ostertag's season-long absence of impact meant Miller had to stay healthy. It wasn't that Ostertag could do what Miller does, but that a big body is a big body. Even in the revamped Western Conference, with its emphasis on sleek, athletic forwards, a big man who can alter a game is gold bullion.
Miller's injury might have been the time for Ostertag to step forward, but he's just not capable. Adelman says Ostertag never did adjust to the system, in which centers and power forwards are so crucial to the offensive flow. If so, it's a fairly shocking swing and miss by executive Geoff Petrie, who doesn't miss often on talent fits.
Result: No 'Tag, and no true center through which to run even part of the offense. So now it is Adelman adjusting on the fly, trying belatedly to shift that responsibility to Mike Bibby and Cuttino Mobley.
"And even Peja's going to have to step up, because the other (new) guys aren't comfortable doing it," Adelman said. They need to get comfortable soon. All of which is to say that the celebrated Adelman system, once again, is on trial for its life.
http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/basketball/kings/story/12565929p-13420907c.html
hee hee
