http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/basketball/kings/story/11210916p-12126702c.html
Tough Talk
Chris Webber declares that the Kings need to be stronger mentally; achieving that will be difficult, sports psychologists say
By Sam Amick -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PDT Monday, October 25, 2004
As offseason changes go, this one was bigger than the swapping of 7-foot centers.
It was more pertinent than the one-way trade talks of Peja Stojakovic, more compelling than Doug Christie's foot throbbing with plantar fasciitis.
Chris Webber, king of the Kings who were once called "Queens," wanted a rewiring of his team's happy-go-(un)lucky psyche.
It was time to get tough, to add a purple and white chip to their collective shoulder, take charges, maybe throw a few elbows and, for the love of Geoff Petrie, play consistent defense. Hoping to avoid a seventh straight postseason without a championship, Webber vowed to lead the charge.
"Anybody on the inside that knows this team ... knows we have a fun, relaxed attitude, which if you are winning, it's cool," Webber told The Bee in early August. "But we haven't won, so it's time to change something."
Getting tough, however, will be no easy task, say sports psychologists. Established professional athletes tend to be set in their ways, their personalities and skills often beyond dramatic reform. They are what they are, so to speak, with a lifetime of habits ingrained in their cerebral circuitry.
The Kings - with an average age of 27.8 and average length of NBA experience of 5.5 seasons among players on guaranteed or partially guaranteed contracts - are no exception.
"Usually that kind of thing doesn't work very well," said Michael Sachs, sports psychologist and kinesiology professor at Temple University and former president of the Association for the Advancement of Applied Sports psychology. "The problem there is that it's very difficult to change if the cast of characters remains the same. You need to bring someone in from the outside to stir the pot and get things going."
Exhibit A: the Detroit Pistons. After back-to-back 50-win seasons and playoff bow-outs, the Pistons added defensive-minded coach Larry Brown and resident bad boy Rasheed Wallace last season. The duo joined a cast already heavy in Motor City macho, from rebound machine Ben Wallace to gritty guard Chauncey Billups and a maturing Richard Hamilton. The new mix resulted in an NBA title, and Detroit has continued the trend by adding power forward Antonio McDyess this season.
Yet judging by the grit gene alone, the Kings seem to have moved backward. Aside from the addition of center Greg Ostertag during the offseason, their concoction is largely the same. Ostertag brings punch and punch lines from the Utah Jazz. He's a comic off the court and a rebounder on it.
Meanwhile, tough guy Anthony Peeler (Washington Wizards) and tough-talking Tony Massenburg (San Antonio Spurs) were not invited back. Peeler, to review, is infamous for his elbow punch to Kevin Garnett's jaw in last season's playoffs against Minnesota. Peeler was suspended for Game 7 of the Western Conference semifinals. Massenburg sang Webber's song late last season, the 250-pound forward calling the Kings "soft" as his playing time diminished and he was left off the playoff roster.
All of this, of course, came after the Kings let hard-nosed Jim Jackson go to Houston the previous offseason, losing the player who could score in flashes, play defense and hold his own in a street fight.
John Meyer, a Sacramento-based sports psychologist who works with the River Cats, said a personality change isn't as easy as tough talk.
"You almost have to bring someone in who's constituted that way," said Meyer, who's also a Kings season-ticket holder. "I don't know if you can change the existing horses."
And if those same horses don't like the plan to begin with? Beware the fractured locker room.
Patrick Cohn, a sports psychologist and president and founder of Peak Performance Sports in Orlando, Fla., said a disjointed effort is a sign of trouble, with the potential for derailing six years of consistent, if not ultimate, success.
By all accounts, chemistry has played a huge role in the Kings averaging 57.5 victories per season since 2000. Their locker room has been mostly harmonic, their stars aligned in close-knit friendships, keeping damaging in-fighting to a minimum.
Webber's stated new approach, however, could end the peace.
"Him coming out and saying that could further divide the team, separate that cohesion they already have," Cohn said. "Team leaders have to be careful about the accusations you make about the team. ... From a teamwork perspective, that could backfire, but on the other hand, it may be a call-out saying, We need to work together on this. That's something that can change with just the right type of coaching."
Meyer agreed that Webber's experiment could blow up, adding that Webber's reputation among his peers must be consistent with his message to have his desired effect.
"The danger is you begin to lose the personality, the makeup that's made them successful," Meyer said. "If you're trying to be something that you're not, it seems not to hold up. Things like chemistry can suffer.
"If teammates don't think of him as a hard-core rebounder, gritty guy, but he's appointed himself as that, there can be a credibility gap."
How much support Webber can gain also will factor in. Ostertag, for one, is a proponent. While with the Jazz, he "knew when I played the Kings I was going to have a good rebounding night." Now with Sacramento, he said he wouldn't mind seeing an attitude adjustment.
"Hopefully, everybody does get a mean streak," Ostertag said. "I think it'll make this team that much better, because they were already a really good team. ... Hopefully, I'll be able to take that stigma away a little bit."
But if Stojakovic is the norm, the internal cracking may soon begin.
Among fans, Stojakovic - and, ironically, Webber - are the two players most accused of being soft. But when asked about Webber's get-tough idea, Stojakovic seemed disinterested.
"Each player has his own opinion, and he can say whatever he wants," Stojakovic said. "We shouldn't give big promises (to be tough). We should go out there and play basketball. You step on the court, and you always give your best. You always play hard."
Coach Rick Adelman isn't a complete supporter, either, if only because he disagrees with the premise.
"I think Chris was talking about getting an attitude," Adelman said. "I don't buy into the thought that our team is not tough. I don't know how you win 58 games a year and compete like we did when we had injuries if you don't have some tough-mindedness on your team. ... I'm not focusing on that. I'm focusing on the fact that we have to do some things, like rebounding the ball better, taking charges, setting screens."
Webber may be missing the target, or he could be adding a missing component. It is, you could say, a tough call. "It's worth a shot," said Sachs, the Temple professor. "The take-it-easy approach hasn't worked for the last few years, so they may as well try this."
Tough Talk
Chris Webber declares that the Kings need to be stronger mentally; achieving that will be difficult, sports psychologists say
By Sam Amick -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PDT Monday, October 25, 2004
As offseason changes go, this one was bigger than the swapping of 7-foot centers.
It was more pertinent than the one-way trade talks of Peja Stojakovic, more compelling than Doug Christie's foot throbbing with plantar fasciitis.
Chris Webber, king of the Kings who were once called "Queens," wanted a rewiring of his team's happy-go-(un)lucky psyche.
It was time to get tough, to add a purple and white chip to their collective shoulder, take charges, maybe throw a few elbows and, for the love of Geoff Petrie, play consistent defense. Hoping to avoid a seventh straight postseason without a championship, Webber vowed to lead the charge.
"Anybody on the inside that knows this team ... knows we have a fun, relaxed attitude, which if you are winning, it's cool," Webber told The Bee in early August. "But we haven't won, so it's time to change something."
Getting tough, however, will be no easy task, say sports psychologists. Established professional athletes tend to be set in their ways, their personalities and skills often beyond dramatic reform. They are what they are, so to speak, with a lifetime of habits ingrained in their cerebral circuitry.
The Kings - with an average age of 27.8 and average length of NBA experience of 5.5 seasons among players on guaranteed or partially guaranteed contracts - are no exception.
"Usually that kind of thing doesn't work very well," said Michael Sachs, sports psychologist and kinesiology professor at Temple University and former president of the Association for the Advancement of Applied Sports psychology. "The problem there is that it's very difficult to change if the cast of characters remains the same. You need to bring someone in from the outside to stir the pot and get things going."
Exhibit A: the Detroit Pistons. After back-to-back 50-win seasons and playoff bow-outs, the Pistons added defensive-minded coach Larry Brown and resident bad boy Rasheed Wallace last season. The duo joined a cast already heavy in Motor City macho, from rebound machine Ben Wallace to gritty guard Chauncey Billups and a maturing Richard Hamilton. The new mix resulted in an NBA title, and Detroit has continued the trend by adding power forward Antonio McDyess this season.
Yet judging by the grit gene alone, the Kings seem to have moved backward. Aside from the addition of center Greg Ostertag during the offseason, their concoction is largely the same. Ostertag brings punch and punch lines from the Utah Jazz. He's a comic off the court and a rebounder on it.
Meanwhile, tough guy Anthony Peeler (Washington Wizards) and tough-talking Tony Massenburg (San Antonio Spurs) were not invited back. Peeler, to review, is infamous for his elbow punch to Kevin Garnett's jaw in last season's playoffs against Minnesota. Peeler was suspended for Game 7 of the Western Conference semifinals. Massenburg sang Webber's song late last season, the 250-pound forward calling the Kings "soft" as his playing time diminished and he was left off the playoff roster.
All of this, of course, came after the Kings let hard-nosed Jim Jackson go to Houston the previous offseason, losing the player who could score in flashes, play defense and hold his own in a street fight.
John Meyer, a Sacramento-based sports psychologist who works with the River Cats, said a personality change isn't as easy as tough talk.
"You almost have to bring someone in who's constituted that way," said Meyer, who's also a Kings season-ticket holder. "I don't know if you can change the existing horses."
And if those same horses don't like the plan to begin with? Beware the fractured locker room.
Patrick Cohn, a sports psychologist and president and founder of Peak Performance Sports in Orlando, Fla., said a disjointed effort is a sign of trouble, with the potential for derailing six years of consistent, if not ultimate, success.
By all accounts, chemistry has played a huge role in the Kings averaging 57.5 victories per season since 2000. Their locker room has been mostly harmonic, their stars aligned in close-knit friendships, keeping damaging in-fighting to a minimum.
Webber's stated new approach, however, could end the peace.
"Him coming out and saying that could further divide the team, separate that cohesion they already have," Cohn said. "Team leaders have to be careful about the accusations you make about the team. ... From a teamwork perspective, that could backfire, but on the other hand, it may be a call-out saying, We need to work together on this. That's something that can change with just the right type of coaching."
Meyer agreed that Webber's experiment could blow up, adding that Webber's reputation among his peers must be consistent with his message to have his desired effect.
"The danger is you begin to lose the personality, the makeup that's made them successful," Meyer said. "If you're trying to be something that you're not, it seems not to hold up. Things like chemistry can suffer.
"If teammates don't think of him as a hard-core rebounder, gritty guy, but he's appointed himself as that, there can be a credibility gap."
How much support Webber can gain also will factor in. Ostertag, for one, is a proponent. While with the Jazz, he "knew when I played the Kings I was going to have a good rebounding night." Now with Sacramento, he said he wouldn't mind seeing an attitude adjustment.
"Hopefully, everybody does get a mean streak," Ostertag said. "I think it'll make this team that much better, because they were already a really good team. ... Hopefully, I'll be able to take that stigma away a little bit."
But if Stojakovic is the norm, the internal cracking may soon begin.
Among fans, Stojakovic - and, ironically, Webber - are the two players most accused of being soft. But when asked about Webber's get-tough idea, Stojakovic seemed disinterested.
"Each player has his own opinion, and he can say whatever he wants," Stojakovic said. "We shouldn't give big promises (to be tough). We should go out there and play basketball. You step on the court, and you always give your best. You always play hard."
Coach Rick Adelman isn't a complete supporter, either, if only because he disagrees with the premise.
"I think Chris was talking about getting an attitude," Adelman said. "I don't buy into the thought that our team is not tough. I don't know how you win 58 games a year and compete like we did when we had injuries if you don't have some tough-mindedness on your team. ... I'm not focusing on that. I'm focusing on the fact that we have to do some things, like rebounding the ball better, taking charges, setting screens."
Webber may be missing the target, or he could be adding a missing component. It is, you could say, a tough call. "It's worth a shot," said Sachs, the Temple professor. "The take-it-easy approach hasn't worked for the last few years, so they may as well try this."