2005 Kings Preview: Petrie's nontrivial pursuit
The master string-puller still is intent on making the Kings a winner
Published 2:15 am PST Tuesday, November 1, 2005
Kings president of basketball operations Geoff Petrie was the NBA's 1971 co-Rookie of the Year along with Boston center Dave Cowens before retiring in 1976 because of a serious knee injury.
A two-time All-Star as a player, he has been a better executive. He has been voted the NBA's Executive of the Year twice since taking over the Kings in 1994 and now is presiding over the current remaking of the squad.
Bee staff writer Martin McNeal recently sat down with Petrie for a wide-ranging interview on the past, present and future.
Q: How are you feeling about your team?
A: I think we have a fresh canvas to work with, and not a blank canvas. I feel we've got - and it's a dangerous word - potential, I guess. (It's) a group that looks like it can be pretty creative, highly skilled and, so far in preseason, there's just been a lot of trying to find out exactly how different combinations of players will work and what the new players we've added can do and what matter they are going to contribute and looking at our younger players as well.
But it's a team where most of the key players are either in their prime or not yet come into it. So we hope there is room for growth and looking at a way to come around again at a core group of players that can continue to win at a high level.
Q: Did you go into the summer looking to remake the team? When was that decision made?
A: I don't know if there was any defining moment for that. It was looking at the team you have, where you think its future can go and how you think it's playing relative to where the competition is now. We had such a great run with the team with Chris (Webber) and Vlade (Divac) and Doug (Christie) and Bobby (Jackson). They won, and they had three great shots at getting all the way there and didn't quite make it. But they enjoyed playing with each other. They were charismatic for about four or five years. You had a real consistent sense of what you were going to get, pretty much, and then it was just a question of whether it was going to be good enough.
But they did the best they could do, and it's just part of the cycle of all professional sports teams. At some point, the future has to become different. So that's where we are now. And like I said, we're trying to come around at it in another way, hoping that with Brad (Miller) and Peja (Stojakovic) and Mike (Bibby), there is some continuity and stability in terms of their play. Two of the three have been All-Stars, and Mike wants to be one, and they are very much in their primes as well, and something new will emerge out of that.
Q: What is the toughest part of your job?
A: I enjoy the job. I've been involved in competitive sports since I was 6 years old, and whatever stress or pressure that goes along with that is part of what makes it fun, really.
You're constantly trying to be better. You want to put a quality, entertaining product out there that people will like and that they can relate to, especially the community we have here, and reflect well on the city and the franchise. And I think we've, overall, done a good job of that. But every year, the other 29 teams are trying to do the same thing, and the competition is incredibly intense, and there's a lot of circumstantial things that you don't have control over that can affect the outcome or where you are at any one point.
Q: Are injuries the biggest one?
A: Yeah, they certainly are one of them - injuries at the wrong time or the seriousness of injuries. Just rub-of-the-green things that can happen during the course of one game. The ball that bounces the wrong way. The call you get or don't get. The shot you need to make or don't make. The rebound you need to get or don't get. Whatever. There's elements of that that all come into play at various times.
Q: If you look at how the NBA has changed since you became an executive, how would you describe those changes?
A: It's obviously more structured, competitive and high-profile. Professional sports, including the NBA, always have been part of our culture, but because of the way society has grown and the games have grown with it, it's a year-round deal. Years ago, there wasn't as much going on as there is today, with the summer leagues and international play and the ongoing search for new talent or the development of your players.
And the business and marketing aspect of the game has grown dramatically, too.
Q: I was doing something with NBA Entertainment the other day, and the first question I was asked was one I get all the time: Has the window of opportunity closed for this team? And I ask, is this team in its current state capable of getting to the NBA Finals?
A: (Laughs heartily) We're talking about a team that is going to have to do a lot of things as it starts the season. It's going to have to find its own identity. Once you get to a certain level as a team, and I've seen this to be true over the years, after that, the things that make the whole better than the sum of the parts are: What kind of camaraderie is there going to be? What kind of esprit de corps? Do they like playing with each other? A lot of the intangibles come into play. What kind of accommodation gets made so that enough of "me" goes into "we," so that the team can succeed as a group? I think what gets lost in a lot of this is that basketball is the most interdependent of the major professional team sports.
Q: More than football?
A: Oh, absolutely, because our guys play offense and defense together. Whatever five people are on the court are totally dependent on each other for everything that goes on out there. And while one player, in basketball, can affect the game to a much larger degree than one player in those other sports, it's still true that the best team wins. And you have to have some great individuals to accomplish that.
I think Detroit has proved you can build a better team without "superstars" and win big. I think we have won big for a long time. We just haven't won a title. But the team concept will get you beyond what the collection of talent may be. And so, we don't know that about this team yet. But there is going to have to be growth. And I think the most important thing, because the team is younger, again, and there are years in front of all these players, where is it all going to go?
Q: When you look at Mike Bibby, and he comes out and says he wants to be known as the leader of this team, is that a good thing?
A: I think it's admirable, but it also is a great responsibility when you want to take that on. I think leadership in general, the best leaders are people that bring other people together, that lead by example. Leadership is not a pick-and-choose proposition. If you're going to be a leader, you need to lead in all things. And if you're into Arthurian legend.
Q: And I don't know what you are talking about, so tell me, please.
A: You'd have your round table and you would have a King Arthur kind of person who would be enlightened and humanitarian in all of his decision-making, and when tough things needed to be done, he'd step forward and do what was best for the group. But that's probably a little too utopian for the world we live in, but ...
Q: And pro basketball?
A: (Laughs) I mean every team needs leadership. And it can take a lot of different forms. But, like I said, it's admirable for Mike to do it, and it's the kind of thing that will show up on the court and in the locker room and off the court, and certainly he'll get support from us for that.
The master string-puller still is intent on making the Kings a winner
Published 2:15 am PST Tuesday, November 1, 2005
Kings president of basketball operations Geoff Petrie was the NBA's 1971 co-Rookie of the Year along with Boston center Dave Cowens before retiring in 1976 because of a serious knee injury.
A two-time All-Star as a player, he has been a better executive. He has been voted the NBA's Executive of the Year twice since taking over the Kings in 1994 and now is presiding over the current remaking of the squad.
Bee staff writer Martin McNeal recently sat down with Petrie for a wide-ranging interview on the past, present and future.
Q: How are you feeling about your team?
A: I think we have a fresh canvas to work with, and not a blank canvas. I feel we've got - and it's a dangerous word - potential, I guess. (It's) a group that looks like it can be pretty creative, highly skilled and, so far in preseason, there's just been a lot of trying to find out exactly how different combinations of players will work and what the new players we've added can do and what matter they are going to contribute and looking at our younger players as well.
But it's a team where most of the key players are either in their prime or not yet come into it. So we hope there is room for growth and looking at a way to come around again at a core group of players that can continue to win at a high level.
Q: Did you go into the summer looking to remake the team? When was that decision made?
A: I don't know if there was any defining moment for that. It was looking at the team you have, where you think its future can go and how you think it's playing relative to where the competition is now. We had such a great run with the team with Chris (Webber) and Vlade (Divac) and Doug (Christie) and Bobby (Jackson). They won, and they had three great shots at getting all the way there and didn't quite make it. But they enjoyed playing with each other. They were charismatic for about four or five years. You had a real consistent sense of what you were going to get, pretty much, and then it was just a question of whether it was going to be good enough.
But they did the best they could do, and it's just part of the cycle of all professional sports teams. At some point, the future has to become different. So that's where we are now. And like I said, we're trying to come around at it in another way, hoping that with Brad (Miller) and Peja (Stojakovic) and Mike (Bibby), there is some continuity and stability in terms of their play. Two of the three have been All-Stars, and Mike wants to be one, and they are very much in their primes as well, and something new will emerge out of that.
Q: What is the toughest part of your job?
A: I enjoy the job. I've been involved in competitive sports since I was 6 years old, and whatever stress or pressure that goes along with that is part of what makes it fun, really.
You're constantly trying to be better. You want to put a quality, entertaining product out there that people will like and that they can relate to, especially the community we have here, and reflect well on the city and the franchise. And I think we've, overall, done a good job of that. But every year, the other 29 teams are trying to do the same thing, and the competition is incredibly intense, and there's a lot of circumstantial things that you don't have control over that can affect the outcome or where you are at any one point.
Q: Are injuries the biggest one?
A: Yeah, they certainly are one of them - injuries at the wrong time or the seriousness of injuries. Just rub-of-the-green things that can happen during the course of one game. The ball that bounces the wrong way. The call you get or don't get. The shot you need to make or don't make. The rebound you need to get or don't get. Whatever. There's elements of that that all come into play at various times.
Q: If you look at how the NBA has changed since you became an executive, how would you describe those changes?
A: It's obviously more structured, competitive and high-profile. Professional sports, including the NBA, always have been part of our culture, but because of the way society has grown and the games have grown with it, it's a year-round deal. Years ago, there wasn't as much going on as there is today, with the summer leagues and international play and the ongoing search for new talent or the development of your players.
And the business and marketing aspect of the game has grown dramatically, too.
Q: I was doing something with NBA Entertainment the other day, and the first question I was asked was one I get all the time: Has the window of opportunity closed for this team? And I ask, is this team in its current state capable of getting to the NBA Finals?
A: (Laughs heartily) We're talking about a team that is going to have to do a lot of things as it starts the season. It's going to have to find its own identity. Once you get to a certain level as a team, and I've seen this to be true over the years, after that, the things that make the whole better than the sum of the parts are: What kind of camaraderie is there going to be? What kind of esprit de corps? Do they like playing with each other? A lot of the intangibles come into play. What kind of accommodation gets made so that enough of "me" goes into "we," so that the team can succeed as a group? I think what gets lost in a lot of this is that basketball is the most interdependent of the major professional team sports.
Q: More than football?
A: Oh, absolutely, because our guys play offense and defense together. Whatever five people are on the court are totally dependent on each other for everything that goes on out there. And while one player, in basketball, can affect the game to a much larger degree than one player in those other sports, it's still true that the best team wins. And you have to have some great individuals to accomplish that.
I think Detroit has proved you can build a better team without "superstars" and win big. I think we have won big for a long time. We just haven't won a title. But the team concept will get you beyond what the collection of talent may be. And so, we don't know that about this team yet. But there is going to have to be growth. And I think the most important thing, because the team is younger, again, and there are years in front of all these players, where is it all going to go?
Q: When you look at Mike Bibby, and he comes out and says he wants to be known as the leader of this team, is that a good thing?
A: I think it's admirable, but it also is a great responsibility when you want to take that on. I think leadership in general, the best leaders are people that bring other people together, that lead by example. Leadership is not a pick-and-choose proposition. If you're going to be a leader, you need to lead in all things. And if you're into Arthurian legend.
Q: And I don't know what you are talking about, so tell me, please.
A: You'd have your round table and you would have a King Arthur kind of person who would be enlightened and humanitarian in all of his decision-making, and when tough things needed to be done, he'd step forward and do what was best for the group. But that's probably a little too utopian for the world we live in, but ...
Q: And pro basketball?
A: (Laughs) I mean every team needs leadership. And it can take a lot of different forms. But, like I said, it's admirable for Mike to do it, and it's the kind of thing that will show up on the court and in the locker room and off the court, and certainly he'll get support from us for that.
