http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/basketball/kings/story/14248508p-15065807c.html
Marcos Bretón: The Kings show they're human, too
By Marcos Bretón -- Bee Sports Columnist
Published 2:15 am PDT Thursday, April 27, 2006
This city, this team, this coach know the heartbreak of big losses in big moments. Sacramento, the Kings and Rick Adelman know them too well.
No need to relive the lowlights.
Yet there was Adelman in the Kings' practice facility Wednesday - home base in a city of recriminations - talking like a tornado survivor who'd just been ravaged by a flood.
He was a man on no sleep, describing Manu Ginobili driving the baseline in the closing moments of Tuesday night's heart-crushing playoff loss to the lucky San Antonio Spurs.
And damned if it didn't hurt Adelman just as much a day later, particularly since the Kings' coach could see impending doom in Ginobili's move past Jason Hart's defensive mistake.
He could see the gifted Argentine just beyond his reach, spying sharp-shooting teammates locked on a hard target.
He could see it, but he couldn't prevent it.
"I could feel myself dying at that point," Adelman said, describing the arch of Ginobili's pass to a wide-open Brent Barry and its aftermath:
A Barry three-pointer to tie a game the Kings should have won but dropped 128-119 in overtime - thereby falling two games down to the defending NBA champions in a best-of-seven playoff series.
"There is nothing else (the Kings discussed in the timeout before Ginobili's magic pass) but staying with three-point shooters," Adelman said.
"But people are human."
Yes, they are. That was the only explanation why Mike Bibby, the King of clutch, left Barry roaming free and why Bibby was in a vulnerable spot to be screened by the mammoth Tim Duncan - instead of shadowing Barry as he was told.
Bibby is human, as is Hart. That's the story here, though many of you don't accept that.
This is Sacramento, where spring means blooming flowers, wilting playoff hopes and a search for scapegoats for Kings heartbreaks.
In this case, the small-minded will blame Adelman instead of blaming human frailty among Kings players.
They will wrongly assert that the Kings should have fouled Ginobili before he ever let loose like a feral hound in the Pampas.
What else could one expect in a city never known for rational playoff introspection?
Sacramento is the city once poised to deputize Ralph Nader like some dreary Barney Fife in Nader's aborted 2002 search of faulty NBA officials and a conspiracy to doom the Kings against the Los Angeles Lakers.
This is also where the courageous Bobby Jackson was slimed for not playing in a failed playoff series, though he had a torn abdominal wall.
Against that backdrop, fouling Ginobili with 14 seconds left sounds almost rational. Almost.
But let's get it straight: Fouling with four or five seconds left? Absolutely. But with 14? "That's just gobs of time," Adelman said, and he's right. That's plenty of time for a game of fouls to blow up on the Kings.
Don't believe me? Then stop what you're doing, breathe into a paper sack before passing out, and ask any coach or scout, and he'll tell you the same thing:
The right call was to play solid defense and follow instructions - which Bibby didn't, while no one around him helped him out. No one had his defensive back, in contrast to the rest of the game.
Which brings us back to why Adelman said this loss ranks in the "top five" of all-time playoff losses in Sacramento.
We know that's saying a lot, considering the Kings' history of missed free throws at the most critical moments and of Robert Horry in a Lakers uniform, roaming free, as Barry was in San Antonio on Tuesday night.
One might argue that the stage was set by Adelman not preaching enough defense. But when has Mr. Bibby ever been known for his defense?
He is what he is, and the Kings are what they are: An unfamiliar team in search of consistency. A team of big heart and big flaws. A team deserving of big praise, but a team that will just as easily break your heart as thrill you.
They were in a position to win against all odds - they scrapped back late when they looked dead. They were brilliant yet didn't get it done.
That's why it hurt Adelman so much and why it hurt everyone else sitting or standing on the Kings' sideline Tuesday.
It was the pain of being human, the most painful hurt of all.
About the writer: Reach Marcos Bretón at (916) 321-1096 or mbreton@sacbee.com
Marcos Bretón: The Kings show they're human, too
By Marcos Bretón -- Bee Sports Columnist
Published 2:15 am PDT Thursday, April 27, 2006
This city, this team, this coach know the heartbreak of big losses in big moments. Sacramento, the Kings and Rick Adelman know them too well.
No need to relive the lowlights.
Yet there was Adelman in the Kings' practice facility Wednesday - home base in a city of recriminations - talking like a tornado survivor who'd just been ravaged by a flood.
He was a man on no sleep, describing Manu Ginobili driving the baseline in the closing moments of Tuesday night's heart-crushing playoff loss to the lucky San Antonio Spurs.
And damned if it didn't hurt Adelman just as much a day later, particularly since the Kings' coach could see impending doom in Ginobili's move past Jason Hart's defensive mistake.
He could see the gifted Argentine just beyond his reach, spying sharp-shooting teammates locked on a hard target.
He could see it, but he couldn't prevent it.
"I could feel myself dying at that point," Adelman said, describing the arch of Ginobili's pass to a wide-open Brent Barry and its aftermath:
A Barry three-pointer to tie a game the Kings should have won but dropped 128-119 in overtime - thereby falling two games down to the defending NBA champions in a best-of-seven playoff series.
"There is nothing else (the Kings discussed in the timeout before Ginobili's magic pass) but staying with three-point shooters," Adelman said.
"But people are human."
Yes, they are. That was the only explanation why Mike Bibby, the King of clutch, left Barry roaming free and why Bibby was in a vulnerable spot to be screened by the mammoth Tim Duncan - instead of shadowing Barry as he was told.
Bibby is human, as is Hart. That's the story here, though many of you don't accept that.
This is Sacramento, where spring means blooming flowers, wilting playoff hopes and a search for scapegoats for Kings heartbreaks.
In this case, the small-minded will blame Adelman instead of blaming human frailty among Kings players.
They will wrongly assert that the Kings should have fouled Ginobili before he ever let loose like a feral hound in the Pampas.
What else could one expect in a city never known for rational playoff introspection?
Sacramento is the city once poised to deputize Ralph Nader like some dreary Barney Fife in Nader's aborted 2002 search of faulty NBA officials and a conspiracy to doom the Kings against the Los Angeles Lakers.
This is also where the courageous Bobby Jackson was slimed for not playing in a failed playoff series, though he had a torn abdominal wall.
Against that backdrop, fouling Ginobili with 14 seconds left sounds almost rational. Almost.
But let's get it straight: Fouling with four or five seconds left? Absolutely. But with 14? "That's just gobs of time," Adelman said, and he's right. That's plenty of time for a game of fouls to blow up on the Kings.
Don't believe me? Then stop what you're doing, breathe into a paper sack before passing out, and ask any coach or scout, and he'll tell you the same thing:
The right call was to play solid defense and follow instructions - which Bibby didn't, while no one around him helped him out. No one had his defensive back, in contrast to the rest of the game.
Which brings us back to why Adelman said this loss ranks in the "top five" of all-time playoff losses in Sacramento.
We know that's saying a lot, considering the Kings' history of missed free throws at the most critical moments and of Robert Horry in a Lakers uniform, roaming free, as Barry was in San Antonio on Tuesday night.
One might argue that the stage was set by Adelman not preaching enough defense. But when has Mr. Bibby ever been known for his defense?
He is what he is, and the Kings are what they are: An unfamiliar team in search of consistency. A team of big heart and big flaws. A team deserving of big praise, but a team that will just as easily break your heart as thrill you.
They were in a position to win against all odds - they scrapped back late when they looked dead. They were brilliant yet didn't get it done.
That's why it hurt Adelman so much and why it hurt everyone else sitting or standing on the Kings' sideline Tuesday.
It was the pain of being human, the most painful hurt of all.
About the writer: Reach Marcos Bretón at (916) 321-1096 or mbreton@sacbee.com
