Kings notes: ESPN rankings aren't as kind

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http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/basketball/kings/story/13970751p-14804777c.html

Kings notes: ESPN rankings aren't as kind to franchise
By Joe Davidson -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PST Monday, December 12, 2005


The Kings have even taken a hit on the national rankings scale, at least according to ESPN.

Sacramento ranked 12th among NBA teams and 40th overall for all NBA, NFL and major-league baseball teams in the annual ESPN Ultimate Standings. In 2003, when the Kings were still on the cusp of championship greatness, they ranked No. 2 in the Ultimate Standings behind the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA. Here's how the current Kings break down, for all major sports, starting with rank, with 2003 overall rankings in parentheses:

• 19 (4) - Fan Relations (ease of access to players, coaches and management).
• 39 (15) - Bang for the Buck (revenues directly from fans divided by wins in the last three years).
• 40 (3) - Ownership (honesty, loyalty to players and city).
• 45 (7) - Players (effort on the court, likability off it).
• 51 (29) - Championships (titles won or soon expected to win).
• 53 (21) - Coaching/management (strong on-court leadership).
• 67 (14) - Stadium or arena experience (friendliness of environment, quality of game-day promotions).
• 73 (17) - Affordability (price of tickets, parking and concessions).

Dealing with expectations
Corliss Williamson can tell you about losing. He would prefer it was repressed memory, the 1997-98 tailspin by the Kings when the team lost 19 of its last 20 games to bottom out at 27-55.

He was then a third-year forward with the Kings. Now, he is in the second year of his return tour with the franchise. He explained that the recent woes have been even more painful, all because the expectations now were different. The Kings were used to losing then.

"The bar's been raised the last seven years," Williamson said. "This organization shouldn't expect anything less. The fans shouldn't expect anything less. It's our job to come and meet those expectations. Maybe in April, in the playoffs, we'll all be laughing about it."

Admiring college mentors
Brad Miller applauds the Toronto Raptors for bringing aboard Gene Keady, Miller's college coach at Purdue. They remain close, with Keady something of a father figure who has a lot of gruff to go with hidden charm. Keady will work as an assistant coach.

"He'll bring more fire," Miller said. "For me, I wanted to play well for him in college. I wanted to impress him because you want to keep him off your (butt). His style will work in any situation, even the NBA, but you have to have guys whose egos are willing to take constructive criticism. They have some young guys who are still growing up and becoming men."

Meanwhile, the naming of Jim Boeheim as an assistant coach for the U.S. national men's team pleased Jason Hart. The Kings reserve guard set steals records as an impact defender for Boeheim at Syracuse.

"He'll help because he's a great coach and because he knows how to use the zone, baby," Hart said, grinning.

Charitable spirit
Maloof Sports & Entertainment hosted five displaced families from Hurricane Katrina that now reside in the Sacramento region. The families participated in a halftime presentation to the American Red Cross-Sacramento/Sierra Chapter, presenting a check for $329,327.36 for hurricane relief. The money was raised by Kings and Monarchs fans and others throughout the community, including online auctions. The Kings matched all contributions dollar-for-dollar.

About the writer: The Bee's Joe Davidson can be reached at (916) 321-1280 or jdavidson@sacbee.com.
 
Wow....

Brad miller in a trade for bosh.... Naw I'm just kidding haha.... Well if the offer was right hahah, ok I'm not turning this into a trade thread.... But........ Haha
 
The rankings definitely tell a story - seems like the Maloofs aren't the darlings they once were and the price/bargain ratings have skyrocketed.
 
I see and hear on the radio that the Ticket prices are the main issue. I say they should drop them for some good PR, not sure what the loss on profits would be but that seems to be the biggest issue.
 
BigWaxer said:
I see and hear on the radio that the Ticket prices are the main issue. I say they should drop them for some good PR, not sure what the loss on profits would be but that seems to be the biggest issue.
True, but honestly, Arco is part of the problem in that area. That has a lot to do with why the Maloofs really want an arena that can produce more revenue than Arco can or ever will. Arco at this point...more and more repairs and low revenue with no hope for increasing it.

New arena would mean ability to book bigger attractions for which many non-Kings fans would pay big ticket prices and 40 or so luxury boxes that would draw the big spenders for all events.

Why the heck can Fresno and Stockton build nice new arenas with no pro sports teams and Sacto, as a city, has yet to build a single arena or stadium?

Boy I hated watching Stockton's mayor talk the other night about what a wonderful thing for the city the new arena is, blah, blah, blah. (Nice for Stockton, tho.)
 
kennadog said:
True, but honestly, Arco is part of the problem in that area. That has a lot to do with why the Maloofs really want an arena that can produce more revenue than Arco can or ever will. Arco at this point...more and more repairs and low revenue with no hope for increasing it.

New arena would mean ability to book bigger attractions for which many non-Kings fans would pay big ticket prices and 40 or so luxury boxes that would draw the big spenders for all events.

Why the heck can Fresno and Stockton build nice new arenas with no pro sports teams and Sacto, as a city, has yet to build a single arena or stadium?

Boy I hated watching Stockton's mayor talk the other night about what a wonderful thing for the city the new arena is, blah, blah, blah. (Nice for Stockton, tho.)

Actually, it may end up being a good thing for the future of an arena in Sacramento. If all the businesses that derive income from events at Arco start seeing an erosion as some of their profits are funneled off to the Stockton area, maybe they'll be a little less resistent to building a bigger, better arena in Sacramento.
 
VF21 said:
Actually, it may end up being a good thing for the future of an arena in Sacramento. If all the businesses that derive income from events at Arco start seeing an erosion as some of their profits are funneled off to the Stockton area, maybe they'll be a little less resistent to building a bigger, better arena in Sacramento.

Go 209! ;)

Those ESPN rankings are based completely on who's "winning" at the time. Think about it: would you really consider the "Spurs" to be the best franchis in sports? Give me a break. They're the best team in the league--thats why they're number one. The "rankings" are simply fabricated to point towards who they consider the good teams of the time. In 8-10 years, when Duncan's gone, we'll see how high that team will be.
 
ShatteredVision said:
If Sacramento can "net" a hockey team, that could force a new arena.

Pepsi/Staples Center like...

I'm not sure expansion is really one of the NHL's priorities right now, or moving teams to an untested fanbase that happens to border on one of the only successful ones.
 
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