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http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/basketball/kings/story/11883616p-12770530c.html
Kings' lethargy angers Adelman
The coach says his players can't afford to be overconfident.
By Joe Davidson -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PST Tuesday, December 28, 2004
Rick Adelman was so perturbed with his team's second-half effort Sunday night, you could see it in his clenched jaw, his flushed face and the way he bit his tongue in not really unloading on his players.
An all-out effort, the coach was explaining, could be found in only one man, reserve Maurice Evans.
Otherwise, it was pretty much all Golden State. The Warriors rallied from a 10-point halftime hole to surge ahead by 16 and held on for a 98-94 victory. The 9-18 Warriors gleefully returned to the East Bay thinking they may have finally found themselves and that this might reverse their season.
Adelman, meanwhile, went home wondering how to get the machine out of the mud without getting splattered by the debris.
Adelman suggested that the Kings act as if they are better than they really are, taking their years of Arco Arena success for granted and sleepwalking instead of planting their feet on throats through key stretches. He warned the Kings about a letup against the Warriors, and no amount of timeouts or barking seemed to make the point.
"It doesn't matter what the team's record is. None of that matters," Adelman lamented. "We were out of sync (Sunday), and we had no energy. It took us 16 points down before we started picking it up, and you can't do that in this league.
"Nothing is a given, just because we've won in Arco before, and because we've been a good team in the past. None of that matters right now, and we try to keep talking about that. You have to earn it in this league. Our biggest problem is we think we should be granted wins instead of going out there and playing, and that's frustrating to me.
"If anything, this will hit home a lot harder than me talking about it."
Adelman let his team have Monday and today off this week, citing a rare four-day break in the schedule as a chance to refresh and mend ailments from Chris Webber's knee to Doug Christie's foot to Brad Miller's shin.
The Kings return to practice Wednesday and don't resume play until Friday at Utah.
Adelman said the Kings have to consider what is at stake. They aren't nearly as deep as they have been, and they're even thinner now that Bobby Jackson is likely out until the eve of the playoffs because of a wrist injury. All the mistakes are magnified, from getting beat off the dribble, to not helping on the perimeter, to impatience on offense to a general lack of hustle.
And with the Kings going 2-3 in the most recent homestand, there is evidence that even Arco isn't a sure thing these days.
They were walloped by the Lakers 115-99 Dec. 16 in what amounted to a layup drill with 19 dunks or layups yielded and 92 points surrendered through three quarters. It represented the Kings' worst home loss since March 2, 1998, months before Adelman took over as coach.
The Kings responded from that drubbing by downing New Orleans and Washington before succumbing to the best team in the Eastern Conference, Miami. In that defeat, they lost Christie to an ejection and Miller for most of the game because of a gash in his shin, yet still had a chance to win before the offense went cold late.
Then came the Golden State setback. The Warriors had lost 11 straight to the Kings at Arco and had just one noteworthy victory all season, at Dallas.
Adelman said he won't do any "knee-jerk" things now. He's not about to yank starters for large chunks of time, because there isn't enough of a bench to keep the Kings competitive.
"These guys get paid a lot of money to play and perform, and I don't think that (a mass benching of key players) is what it is going to take," he said. "I've been with these guys for six years now, and you have to have trust that there are going to be times where you're not going to be playing well."
Webber said he expects the Kings to regroup, refusing to use the loss of Jackson or any other ailments as an excuse. "We've been through this too many times to blame any of this on an injury," he said. "We've got to come back because getting your (butt) kicked is not fun at home."
Kings' lethargy angers Adelman
The coach says his players can't afford to be overconfident.
By Joe Davidson -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PST Tuesday, December 28, 2004
Rick Adelman was so perturbed with his team's second-half effort Sunday night, you could see it in his clenched jaw, his flushed face and the way he bit his tongue in not really unloading on his players.
An all-out effort, the coach was explaining, could be found in only one man, reserve Maurice Evans.
Otherwise, it was pretty much all Golden State. The Warriors rallied from a 10-point halftime hole to surge ahead by 16 and held on for a 98-94 victory. The 9-18 Warriors gleefully returned to the East Bay thinking they may have finally found themselves and that this might reverse their season.
Adelman, meanwhile, went home wondering how to get the machine out of the mud without getting splattered by the debris.
Adelman suggested that the Kings act as if they are better than they really are, taking their years of Arco Arena success for granted and sleepwalking instead of planting their feet on throats through key stretches. He warned the Kings about a letup against the Warriors, and no amount of timeouts or barking seemed to make the point.
"It doesn't matter what the team's record is. None of that matters," Adelman lamented. "We were out of sync (Sunday), and we had no energy. It took us 16 points down before we started picking it up, and you can't do that in this league.
"Nothing is a given, just because we've won in Arco before, and because we've been a good team in the past. None of that matters right now, and we try to keep talking about that. You have to earn it in this league. Our biggest problem is we think we should be granted wins instead of going out there and playing, and that's frustrating to me.
"If anything, this will hit home a lot harder than me talking about it."
Adelman let his team have Monday and today off this week, citing a rare four-day break in the schedule as a chance to refresh and mend ailments from Chris Webber's knee to Doug Christie's foot to Brad Miller's shin.
The Kings return to practice Wednesday and don't resume play until Friday at Utah.
Adelman said the Kings have to consider what is at stake. They aren't nearly as deep as they have been, and they're even thinner now that Bobby Jackson is likely out until the eve of the playoffs because of a wrist injury. All the mistakes are magnified, from getting beat off the dribble, to not helping on the perimeter, to impatience on offense to a general lack of hustle.
And with the Kings going 2-3 in the most recent homestand, there is evidence that even Arco isn't a sure thing these days.
They were walloped by the Lakers 115-99 Dec. 16 in what amounted to a layup drill with 19 dunks or layups yielded and 92 points surrendered through three quarters. It represented the Kings' worst home loss since March 2, 1998, months before Adelman took over as coach.
The Kings responded from that drubbing by downing New Orleans and Washington before succumbing to the best team in the Eastern Conference, Miami. In that defeat, they lost Christie to an ejection and Miller for most of the game because of a gash in his shin, yet still had a chance to win before the offense went cold late.
Then came the Golden State setback. The Warriors had lost 11 straight to the Kings at Arco and had just one noteworthy victory all season, at Dallas.
Adelman said he won't do any "knee-jerk" things now. He's not about to yank starters for large chunks of time, because there isn't enough of a bench to keep the Kings competitive.
"These guys get paid a lot of money to play and perform, and I don't think that (a mass benching of key players) is what it is going to take," he said. "I've been with these guys for six years now, and you have to have trust that there are going to be times where you're not going to be playing well."
Webber said he expects the Kings to regroup, refusing to use the loss of Jackson or any other ailments as an excuse. "We've been through this too many times to blame any of this on an injury," he said. "We've got to come back because getting your (butt) kicked is not fun at home."
