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http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/story/11997784p-12868116c.html
Analysis: Kings: A soothsayer's nightmare
By Martin McNeal -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PST Monday, January 10, 2005
The Kings have defeated the first-place teams in three of the NBA's six divisions.
The Kings have been defeated by the last-place teams in three of the league's divisions.
The Kings are great. They are so darned average. They are straight terrible.
It depends upon which five-minute portion of a game you witness or hear.
If you don't have much time, the Kings are quite capable of displaying the qualities that earn each of those descriptions during any given five-minute stretch.
These guys are so unpredictable that a palm-reading analysis from one of those nut cases on Bourbon Street might have done them better in the long run than putting forth that half-hearted performance in Saturday night's 121-117 overtime loss to the New Orleans Hornets.
(A disclaimer: Those suggesting the meeting of the flaky Kings and the nut cases might not be held responsible for any toll taken on Bourbon Street wackos. Treating this team could be hazardous to anyone's psyche.)
Only five teams will have fewer losses than the Kings (21-11) when they host the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday night. Yet, there's nary a soul out here who can say exactly what we have with the Kings.
They defeated the only team (New York Knicks) that then had a winning record on this recently completed four-game road trip, then they lost two out of the three remaining games to the Toronto Raptors (13-22) and New Orleans Hornets (3-29).
Just after defeating the San Antonio Spurs at Arco Arena on Jan. 2, coach Rick Adelman was asked about having a road swing against teams the Kings "should" beat.
Adelman said then, and again after the loss to the Hornets, that there aren't automatic victories in the NBA.
"We were .500," Adelman said when asked about his impressions of the road trip. "We split it. Obviously, we had a good chance to win three out of four. I learned a long time ago, people can say this win is a gimme win and that win is a gimme win. There are no gimme wins in this league.
"If you'd said we were going to go 2-2 at the start of this trip, I wouldn't have picked (the New Orleans) game to be one we'd lose."
However, it wouldn't have been a game Adelman said he couldn't have lost.
That's because he doesn't have a clue about the effort his team might put forth in a given game.
Unquestionably, the Kings have shown they can play with the league's best - as victories over San Antonio at home and over the Phoenix Suns on the road have exhibited.
Along with the struggling Minnesota Timberwolves, the Kings are one of two teams to win at Phoenix's America West Arena this season.
They are also one of the three teams the Golden State Warriors have defeated on the road, and one of two the Hornets have defeated at home.
The Kings' offensive capabilities are well-documented. They can be a machine when they play the game as they know they should, sharing the ball, running their offense patiently and moving themselves.
But that defense is so shaky, so soft, so inconsistent; they allow so many easy shot opportunities that few teams are incapable of playing with, especially on the road. And since the Kings just recently lost three of five games at Arco, there isn't a comfort zone just because they will play seven of their next eight at home.
In their loss to the Hornets on Saturday night, the Kings' performance epitomized the manner in which they've approached many games this season.
In many ways, the Kings played the percentages and lost. They played soft defensively, as they often do early in games, and, in effect, provided their opposition (team-wise and individually) a veritable telepathic dosage of confidence. Then the Kings couldn't believe Dan Dickau, J.R. Smith and the like were making the wide-open shots they permitted much of the night.
It appears the Kings, as a team, think challenging shots is making that last desperate run from 10 feet away and getting a hand up near the shooter's face just after the ball is released. That's not a challenge; that's a "Maybe I'll look like I was on time on the film."
That's fake hustle and, as of now, faking it isn't getting it done.
Analysis: Kings: A soothsayer's nightmare
By Martin McNeal -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PST Monday, January 10, 2005
The Kings have defeated the first-place teams in three of the NBA's six divisions.
The Kings have been defeated by the last-place teams in three of the league's divisions.
The Kings are great. They are so darned average. They are straight terrible.
It depends upon which five-minute portion of a game you witness or hear.
If you don't have much time, the Kings are quite capable of displaying the qualities that earn each of those descriptions during any given five-minute stretch.
These guys are so unpredictable that a palm-reading analysis from one of those nut cases on Bourbon Street might have done them better in the long run than putting forth that half-hearted performance in Saturday night's 121-117 overtime loss to the New Orleans Hornets.
(A disclaimer: Those suggesting the meeting of the flaky Kings and the nut cases might not be held responsible for any toll taken on Bourbon Street wackos. Treating this team could be hazardous to anyone's psyche.)
Only five teams will have fewer losses than the Kings (21-11) when they host the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday night. Yet, there's nary a soul out here who can say exactly what we have with the Kings.
They defeated the only team (New York Knicks) that then had a winning record on this recently completed four-game road trip, then they lost two out of the three remaining games to the Toronto Raptors (13-22) and New Orleans Hornets (3-29).
Just after defeating the San Antonio Spurs at Arco Arena on Jan. 2, coach Rick Adelman was asked about having a road swing against teams the Kings "should" beat.
Adelman said then, and again after the loss to the Hornets, that there aren't automatic victories in the NBA.
"We were .500," Adelman said when asked about his impressions of the road trip. "We split it. Obviously, we had a good chance to win three out of four. I learned a long time ago, people can say this win is a gimme win and that win is a gimme win. There are no gimme wins in this league.
"If you'd said we were going to go 2-2 at the start of this trip, I wouldn't have picked (the New Orleans) game to be one we'd lose."
However, it wouldn't have been a game Adelman said he couldn't have lost.
That's because he doesn't have a clue about the effort his team might put forth in a given game.
Unquestionably, the Kings have shown they can play with the league's best - as victories over San Antonio at home and over the Phoenix Suns on the road have exhibited.
Along with the struggling Minnesota Timberwolves, the Kings are one of two teams to win at Phoenix's America West Arena this season.
They are also one of the three teams the Golden State Warriors have defeated on the road, and one of two the Hornets have defeated at home.
The Kings' offensive capabilities are well-documented. They can be a machine when they play the game as they know they should, sharing the ball, running their offense patiently and moving themselves.
But that defense is so shaky, so soft, so inconsistent; they allow so many easy shot opportunities that few teams are incapable of playing with, especially on the road. And since the Kings just recently lost three of five games at Arco, there isn't a comfort zone just because they will play seven of their next eight at home.
In their loss to the Hornets on Saturday night, the Kings' performance epitomized the manner in which they've approached many games this season.
In many ways, the Kings played the percentages and lost. They played soft defensively, as they often do early in games, and, in effect, provided their opposition (team-wise and individually) a veritable telepathic dosage of confidence. Then the Kings couldn't believe Dan Dickau, J.R. Smith and the like were making the wide-open shots they permitted much of the night.
It appears the Kings, as a team, think challenging shots is making that last desperate run from 10 feet away and getting a hand up near the shooter's face just after the ball is released. That's not a challenge; that's a "Maybe I'll look like I was on time on the film."
That's fake hustle and, as of now, faking it isn't getting it done.
