http://www.sacbee.com/351/story/47412.html
Work of art, or work in progress?
Whether the fresh brush strokes of Eric Musselman paint a pretty picture this season remains to be seen
By Mark Kreidler - Bee Staff Writer
Published 12:00 am PST Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Story appeared in PROJECTS section, Page KINGS TIPOFF3
You have to admit, it sounds familiar. A key player is banged up entering the season. Another front-liner is dealing with a lesser injury, but not an insubstantial one. And people are wondering about the coach, some more intensely than others.
If you didn't know better, you'd think the Kings pulled this scenario from a time capsule. It is fully representative of several seasons from the Rick Adelman era, a span in which the franchise made eight consecutive playoff appearances and still left fans and ownership wanting more.
But this season is different. And one of the most obvious differences is this: Now the Kings are being measured under the long shadow cast by their predecessors.
That isn't Adelman out there on the sideline; it's Eric Musselman, who radiates youthful exuberance yet already has managed to get himself into the kind of situation, a charge of driving under the influence, that Adelman never even would have pondered.
And those aren't the Kings, or at least not the Kings of anyone's recent memory. A team that not long ago was consumed by the passion, play and health status of Chris Webber, Peja Stojakovic, Vlade Divac, Bobby Jackson and Mike Bibby will begin this season without any of those faces in uniform.
Beyond that, an argument can be made that this roster isn't as talented as the cobbled-together 44-38 version that, while still barely recognizable to Kings fans of the modern vintage, at least finished last season on an undeniable upward curve.
That team was bolstered by the midseason acquisition of Ron Artest and by the playoff-detonating performance of Bonzi Wells, who appeared to almost single-handedly push San Antonio to six games in the first round. Now Wells is gone, the result of a botched free-agency ploy, and so is Adelman, the coach for whom Artest openly lobbied after the Kings went 26-12 down the stretch of the regular season.
Bibby will begin the season on the shelf after a thumb injury. Brad Miller returned Friday from a chip fracture in his right little finger.
And Musselman, the driven and effusive coach about whom the brothers Maloof crowed after hiring him in early June, spent some of the final countdown to his first season dealing with the distraction of his arrest, an event he described as both embarrassing and humiliating and for which he apologized to the Kings, the community and his family.
Mortal wounds? Not a one in sight. But as to the notion that this Kings team is essentially a blank canvas, recent events would argue strongly in that direction.
The night of Oct. 20, the Kings' first exhibition game at Arco Arena in the Musselman era, longtime team executive and broadcaster Jerry Reynolds was asked what was known about this team. Reynolds' reply: that Bibby was one of the top point guards in the league; that Miller was a proven commodity as a good-shooting, excellent-passing big man; and that Artest was one of the best all-around players in the game.
Hours later, Musselman's arrest occurred. Within two days, Bibby and Miller had suffered their injuries.
"And even with the promise of it," Reynolds said, "this year would probably rank as the most uncertain in maybe eight years, going back to the first season that Rick came."
Adelman arrived in the lockout-shortened 1998-99 season with a losing record from his two years at Golden State, just as Musselman has on his résumé. But unlike Musselman, Adelman was a proven NBA quantity, a coach who had led his Portland teams to multiple playoffs and two Western Conference championships.
And where Adelman would be coaching a team led by new arrivals Webber, Divac and Jason Williams, Musselman's task is to mold consistent winning performances from a roster built essentially around Artest and led on the floor by Bibby.
Musselman will do so in the context of Adelman's tenure, during which the Kings' eight consecutive playoff appearances put them in the company of the Spurs and the Indiana Pacers, the only two other teams in the NBA to reach the postseason in all of those years.
And Musselman will do so while attempting to answer all sorts of fascinating questions: Is Kevin Martin ready to break out at the spot Wells once occupied? Can $25 million offseason acquisition John Salmons make the jump to a bigger role after his life as a valued backup in Philadelphia?
Can the laconic Miller thrive in Musselman's bust-your-hump system? Can Musselman really fulfill his desire, as expressed through exhibition games, to go with a nine- or 10-player rotation instead of the seven-man set that Adelman generally favored? And how many ballhandlers does this team actually have?
Having more questions than answers almost always indicates that a season will become, in the words of Kings basketball president Geoff Petrie, a journey of discovery. Not the least of the discoveries will be whether Musselman, who essentially won this job by blowing away the Maloof family during the interview process, can similarly hold his players even as the season covers its inevitable rises and dips.
"I have a cousin who lives in Dallas," Musselman said on the day of his hiring last summer, "and he keeps e-mailing me to say, 'Can you coach, or are you just an interviewer?' "
The comment induced good-natured laughter at the time. As for the truth behind it? Let the journey of discovery begin.
About the writer: Reach Mark Kreidler at (916) 321-1149 or mkreidler@sacbee.com.
Work of art, or work in progress?
Whether the fresh brush strokes of Eric Musselman paint a pretty picture this season remains to be seen
By Mark Kreidler - Bee Staff Writer
Published 12:00 am PST Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Story appeared in PROJECTS section, Page KINGS TIPOFF3
You have to admit, it sounds familiar. A key player is banged up entering the season. Another front-liner is dealing with a lesser injury, but not an insubstantial one. And people are wondering about the coach, some more intensely than others.
If you didn't know better, you'd think the Kings pulled this scenario from a time capsule. It is fully representative of several seasons from the Rick Adelman era, a span in which the franchise made eight consecutive playoff appearances and still left fans and ownership wanting more.
But this season is different. And one of the most obvious differences is this: Now the Kings are being measured under the long shadow cast by their predecessors.
That isn't Adelman out there on the sideline; it's Eric Musselman, who radiates youthful exuberance yet already has managed to get himself into the kind of situation, a charge of driving under the influence, that Adelman never even would have pondered.
And those aren't the Kings, or at least not the Kings of anyone's recent memory. A team that not long ago was consumed by the passion, play and health status of Chris Webber, Peja Stojakovic, Vlade Divac, Bobby Jackson and Mike Bibby will begin this season without any of those faces in uniform.
Beyond that, an argument can be made that this roster isn't as talented as the cobbled-together 44-38 version that, while still barely recognizable to Kings fans of the modern vintage, at least finished last season on an undeniable upward curve.
That team was bolstered by the midseason acquisition of Ron Artest and by the playoff-detonating performance of Bonzi Wells, who appeared to almost single-handedly push San Antonio to six games in the first round. Now Wells is gone, the result of a botched free-agency ploy, and so is Adelman, the coach for whom Artest openly lobbied after the Kings went 26-12 down the stretch of the regular season.
Bibby will begin the season on the shelf after a thumb injury. Brad Miller returned Friday from a chip fracture in his right little finger.
And Musselman, the driven and effusive coach about whom the brothers Maloof crowed after hiring him in early June, spent some of the final countdown to his first season dealing with the distraction of his arrest, an event he described as both embarrassing and humiliating and for which he apologized to the Kings, the community and his family.
Mortal wounds? Not a one in sight. But as to the notion that this Kings team is essentially a blank canvas, recent events would argue strongly in that direction.
The night of Oct. 20, the Kings' first exhibition game at Arco Arena in the Musselman era, longtime team executive and broadcaster Jerry Reynolds was asked what was known about this team. Reynolds' reply: that Bibby was one of the top point guards in the league; that Miller was a proven commodity as a good-shooting, excellent-passing big man; and that Artest was one of the best all-around players in the game.
Hours later, Musselman's arrest occurred. Within two days, Bibby and Miller had suffered their injuries.
"And even with the promise of it," Reynolds said, "this year would probably rank as the most uncertain in maybe eight years, going back to the first season that Rick came."
Adelman arrived in the lockout-shortened 1998-99 season with a losing record from his two years at Golden State, just as Musselman has on his résumé. But unlike Musselman, Adelman was a proven NBA quantity, a coach who had led his Portland teams to multiple playoffs and two Western Conference championships.
And where Adelman would be coaching a team led by new arrivals Webber, Divac and Jason Williams, Musselman's task is to mold consistent winning performances from a roster built essentially around Artest and led on the floor by Bibby.
Musselman will do so in the context of Adelman's tenure, during which the Kings' eight consecutive playoff appearances put them in the company of the Spurs and the Indiana Pacers, the only two other teams in the NBA to reach the postseason in all of those years.
And Musselman will do so while attempting to answer all sorts of fascinating questions: Is Kevin Martin ready to break out at the spot Wells once occupied? Can $25 million offseason acquisition John Salmons make the jump to a bigger role after his life as a valued backup in Philadelphia?
Can the laconic Miller thrive in Musselman's bust-your-hump system? Can Musselman really fulfill his desire, as expressed through exhibition games, to go with a nine- or 10-player rotation instead of the seven-man set that Adelman generally favored? And how many ballhandlers does this team actually have?
Having more questions than answers almost always indicates that a season will become, in the words of Kings basketball president Geoff Petrie, a journey of discovery. Not the least of the discoveries will be whether Musselman, who essentially won this job by blowing away the Maloof family during the interview process, can similarly hold his players even as the season covers its inevitable rises and dips.
"I have a cousin who lives in Dallas," Musselman said on the day of his hiring last summer, "and he keeps e-mailing me to say, 'Can you coach, or are you just an interviewer?' "
The comment induced good-natured laughter at the time. As for the truth behind it? Let the journey of discovery begin.
About the writer: Reach Mark Kreidler at (916) 321-1149 or mkreidler@sacbee.com.
