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Kings notes: Lift from the fans is part of the plan
By Joe Davidson -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PDT Friday, April 29, 2005
There was a lot of roof talk at Kings practice Thursday, and it had nothing to do with any ambitious plans for a new arena (another dream, another day).
Kings players and their coach, Rick Adelman, were explaining that some good home cookin' - the raise-the-roof kind - would go a long way tonight in Game 3 of their NBA playoff series against the Seattle SuperSonics.
"Jerome James hit a turnaround (in Seattle), and their roof came off," Kings guard Cuttino Mobley said. "That was unbelievable. Hopefully our fans do that."
So does Adelman, who knows that any ounce of advantage is needed now.
"(Playing at home), it's huge," he said. "We've got the best fans in the league. It's like I told (my team), you've got to do something to get them excited.
"We know if we play well, the roof is coming off. We've got to make sure it comes off. But if (Seattle) jumps on us, they're not that great of fans that they can come out of their seats and onto the floor and change the momentum."
Add noise - Arco will be booming, to be sure, but note that the Kings are only 19-13 at home in the postseason since the franchise relocated to Sacramento 20 years ago.
The Kings have won seven of their last eight postseason contests in the building. Their last three playoff losses at Arco were in overtime.
Move, Peja, move - Kings assistant Pete Carril, noting that Peja Stojakovic has converted only 12 of his 29 field-goal attempts in the first two games of the series, believes the small forward is spending too much time standing in the corner - literally and figuratively.
"Don't build a castle in that (right) corner," Carril said. "The wood down there isn't any more expensive than the wood is from the foul line extended. He goes down there too much. You look down at the wood to see if there is anything special about it ... you might be digging a hole in there."
He'd do it again - Adelman said he doesn't regret not putting his starters back into Game 2 after the bench used a 15-0 run to cut a wipeout to an eight-point deficit.
"It was pretty easy," he said of keeping the reserves on the floor. "I thought those guys deserved to finish the game, simple as that. We cut it to eight with 1:40 to go, but the chances of really catching (Seattle) wasn't great."
Et cetera - Kings center Brad Miller was asked if this was his most troubling basketball experience. He didn't hesitate: "Nah. I played on the Chicago Bulls team that won 17 games. That's the most frustrated you're ever going to be."
* Adelman on the differences from Game 1 to Game 2: "They didn't change. Unfortunately, neither did we." * Adelman on how crucial Game 3 is: "If we go down 3-0, we've got to win four in a row. The most crucial one is when you lose the fourth one."
http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/basketball/kings/story/12807124p-13657442c.html
By Joe Davidson -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PDT Friday, April 29, 2005
There was a lot of roof talk at Kings practice Thursday, and it had nothing to do with any ambitious plans for a new arena (another dream, another day).
Kings players and their coach, Rick Adelman, were explaining that some good home cookin' - the raise-the-roof kind - would go a long way tonight in Game 3 of their NBA playoff series against the Seattle SuperSonics.
"Jerome James hit a turnaround (in Seattle), and their roof came off," Kings guard Cuttino Mobley said. "That was unbelievable. Hopefully our fans do that."
So does Adelman, who knows that any ounce of advantage is needed now.
"(Playing at home), it's huge," he said. "We've got the best fans in the league. It's like I told (my team), you've got to do something to get them excited.
"We know if we play well, the roof is coming off. We've got to make sure it comes off. But if (Seattle) jumps on us, they're not that great of fans that they can come out of their seats and onto the floor and change the momentum."
Add noise - Arco will be booming, to be sure, but note that the Kings are only 19-13 at home in the postseason since the franchise relocated to Sacramento 20 years ago.
The Kings have won seven of their last eight postseason contests in the building. Their last three playoff losses at Arco were in overtime.
Move, Peja, move - Kings assistant Pete Carril, noting that Peja Stojakovic has converted only 12 of his 29 field-goal attempts in the first two games of the series, believes the small forward is spending too much time standing in the corner - literally and figuratively.
"Don't build a castle in that (right) corner," Carril said. "The wood down there isn't any more expensive than the wood is from the foul line extended. He goes down there too much. You look down at the wood to see if there is anything special about it ... you might be digging a hole in there."
He'd do it again - Adelman said he doesn't regret not putting his starters back into Game 2 after the bench used a 15-0 run to cut a wipeout to an eight-point deficit.
"It was pretty easy," he said of keeping the reserves on the floor. "I thought those guys deserved to finish the game, simple as that. We cut it to eight with 1:40 to go, but the chances of really catching (Seattle) wasn't great."
Et cetera - Kings center Brad Miller was asked if this was his most troubling basketball experience. He didn't hesitate: "Nah. I played on the Chicago Bulls team that won 17 games. That's the most frustrated you're ever going to be."
* Adelman on the differences from Game 1 to Game 2: "They didn't change. Unfortunately, neither did we." * Adelman on how crucial Game 3 is: "If we go down 3-0, we've got to win four in a row. The most crucial one is when you lose the fourth one."
http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/basketball/kings/story/12807124p-13657442c.html
