Do you remember way back (at least in my case) in high school when there was a course you didn't want to take, had no interest in but had to suffer through anyway?
The Kings season of 2008-2009 is a lot like that class. We're stuck sitting in our desks, watching the clock, praying for a miracle (like a fire drill or something) but knowing full well we'll most likely just have to sit it out and wait for the final bell.
Bemoaning how we got into the situation isn't really relevant any longer. For whatever reasons, we're here and so are the Kings.
There are no easy answers to what ails the Kings...except time. Time for Petrie to make the deals that will get the Kings back on the right path. Time to let the contracts of some players expire. Time to continue to assemble a group of players that can and will, in fact, be a team and not just a bunch of nice guys who are in a totally untenable situation they have no control over and who are probably more miserable than the loyal fans who are watching the suffering.
None of these guys got to the NBA on good looks or pleasing personalities. They got there with talent and skills and an incredible desire to play the game at the highest possible level. At any point in time, there are only some 400 +/- young men lucky enough to be in the NBA. Not all of them can be on good teams. Even fewer of them can actually be on great teams. The rest are playing the game and making lots and lots of money, but don't get to reach that top pinnacle of success.
I don't excuse some of our current players' failings, but I do understand them. I cannot imagine how frustrating it can get to have to go to work every day knowing you're probably going to fail even if you do your best.
I still maintain there are glimmers of hope and that keeps me watching this team I've loved since 1985. Jason Thompson has unlimited potential. As someone said recently, he can be as good as he truly wants to be. His future is in his own hands. Spencer Hawes has the drive and desire that just needs a bit of time (there's that word again) to develop.
We have Donte Greene, whose personality is enough by itself to warrant further examination. He's the kind of player every team needs one of. And if he can hone his skills to meet Petrie's hopes and expectations, he can also be on our roster of the future.
Bobby Brown shows potential. He needs work, too, but there's definitely something there to cling to.
When you add in Kevin Martin and Francisco Garcia, you have a very talented group of individuals to work around and possibly meld together into the team we hope they will be.
But all of that is in the future. Right now, we're still sitting in that classroom, watching the clock on the wall at least half-way convinced the hands have totally quit moving.
Just like we got through that class so long ago, we'll get through this season. And maybe someday in the not too distant future we'll look back with fondness at the memory...
Okay, that last part was pure horse dooty. We won't look back with fondness. What we'll look back with is relief and joy that it's finally over. But that in and of itself is something to look forward to, isn't it?
