We had exactly one year when anybody outside of Kingsland thought we were the best, that was 02-03. That was the year we lost Webb in the playoffs. That was also the year that the depths of delusion that Kingsland was suffering from first became apparent. Yeah...should have gone on and won the title without your best player. Of course. Happens ALL the time in the NBA.
So in any case, the Maloofs have shown themselves to be no brighter than the most deluded of their fans, indeed have contributed to the delusion. And sooner or later that sort of ignorance comes home to roost. You let your chintzy little hype machine endlessly tell the fans that they are the best, that their arena is the best, that their team is the best, always always always...and gee, here you are a few years later, chasing scapegoats out of town left and right, and being scapegoated yourself by the fans you buttered up. All because you never managed expectations in the first place. Your team is a "failure" because it was "the best" and did not win the title, your fans won't replace your arena because the current one is "the best" and you would never leave "the best" fans in the world. Like a pyramid scheme at the end of its run. Foolishly shortsighted and shallow.
no actually, the kings were the best team when the lakers were heavily favored and calls were made according to their forte (a close game at the end was their territory). the next year was the beginning of the downfall actually. they were still the best but were not better.
i never buy into the hype. the kings were the best because the way they were playing was how basketball was meant to be played. efficient, collective, entertaining. something stern apparently does not want, as it is not good for business. heros sell more.
as for webber going down, well, there were lessons to be taken, but the disillusion of adelman and petrie prevented them from taking any. they thought an imitation of vlade in brad would do the trick. but in the meantime, they lost hedo, wallace, peja; christie and bobby were getting old with absolutely no plan for their replacements. it eventually became bibby's team, according to the media. the kings were very strong and the best because the team was nobody's; it had its leaders, sure, but none claimed to be in the sole possession of the team. until webber opened his mouth, that is, and first declared the "with him" and "against him" players. then again, by anointing himself as the true leader and vowing to change the "happy go lucky" attitude after vlade's departure.
how is all this adelman's fault? well,
1. he put hedo into his doghouse after hedo stupidly enough claimed that he deserved the starting position and was expecting dc to come off the bench. jj was hired because hedo was injured, and the was the end of hedo in the kings uniform. that was stupid because he, adelman, chose to ride jj instead of investing into hedo.
2. he did a similar thing to wallace. he was a great hustle player. there were times where he would do great if given the chance, but one cramp coming on, marked his end. again, young ones can do mistakes; a good coach turns these mistakes into milestones of an ever developing career. adelman did not do that.
3. webber's return from injury and the infamous 2/21 game was adelman's fault. he should have made webber come gradually. instead he bowed before him and handed the control. that was an utter and complete disrespect to the rest of the team, especially to peja.
4. peja's story, i tend to believe, is like chicken and egg. games were not called for him when going went tough. the "money" game was to let bibby and webber do their "thang". that probably alienated him. an american would treat a guy in peja's shoes who is not forcing the issue as loser, which most, if not all, here did. or being soft at best. i don't buy that a single second. these guys are tough. try being a professional athlete for a change.
5. dc and bobby and webber were traded too late. webber should have brought in much more. but adelman did not phase him out; petrie did not trade him sooner. dc became damaged goods. maybe only bobby might be considered a timely trade, considering his injury was unexpected. still, there are really tons of players who could be molded into their role. they should have replaced earlier. adelman chose to play them till they could play no more with little to no trust to his bench players.
6. when webber started talking, adelman did not counter him. nothing changed in his attitude towards the guy. being a players' coach is one thing, being not able to instill discipline is another. he should not have let webber get away with all that bs. he should have seen that webber was actually pruning the branch he was sitting on.
some might be speculation on my part, but that is part of the deal here: being not privy to insider information, on some issues the most one can do is to make educational guesses. the others are not speculation and facts.
