Kings sleepwalk toward Seattle

EmKingsFan4

EmKingsFan4

Starter
#1
#1
Kings sleepwalk toward Seattle



By Martin McNeal -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PDT Tuesday, April 19, 2005


SALT LAKE CITY - After the Kings' disappointing 92-82 loss to the Utah Jazz on Monday night, Cuttino Mobley attempted to put all the weight on his shoulders.



But as putrid as the guard's 2-of-15 shooting performance was, he had far too much company in the stink-bomb category to warrant anything near total blame.

The Kings' second straight loss prevents them from passing the fifth-place Houston Rockets in the Western Conference standings and guarantees a first-round playoff series against the No. 3 Seattle SuperSonics, starting either Saturday or Sunday at KeyArena.

A Kings victory Wednesday night at home against the top-seeded Phoenix Suns, plus a Houston loss at home against Seattle, would give the Rockets and Kings 50-32 records. But the Rockets would receive the fifth seed and a first-round matchup against the fourth-seeded Dallas Mavericks because of a better conference record.

The Denver Nuggets' loss in Phoenix on Monday night dropped them to 48-33. A Nuggets victory in their home game Wednesday night against the Portland Trail Blazers, combined with a Kings loss to the Suns, would give Denver and Sacramento 49-33 records. However, the Kings hold the tiebreaker by virtue of their 2-1 season-series win and would still receive the No. 6 playoff seed.

Against the Jazz, Mobley was just one of a number of Kings who consistently couldn't make a shot from the perimeter.

"I wasn't myself (Monday night)," said Mobley, who made just 3 of 12 field-goal attempts Saturday night in a loss at Phoenix. "I'm the reason why we lost this game, at least to me, personally. Anybody can say what they want, but I'm definitely the reason we lost this one. It just didn't feel right.

"Everytime the ball left my hand ... me on the court, the whole atmosphere didn't feel right. I was stone-cold (bad Monday). I can't put my finger on it."

Mobley was one of many Kings who failed to execute the offense efficiently enough to get more makeable field-goal attempts. Mike Bibby led all scorers with 26 points, but one-man efforts usually don't get it done on this level. And Bibby went cold during the game's latter stages, so the Kings were left attempting a comeback without firepower.

None of the Kings' starters scored a field goal during the fourth quarter, when there were numerous opportunities to overtake a Jazz squad that was having difficulty scoring.

"We didn't have enough energy to win a game on the road," said Kings coach Rick Adelman, whose team had a nine-game Delta Center winning streak stopped. "We didn't play well enough the whole game. We were three down at halftime, and I thought we were lucky to be three down. We didn't shoot the ball well, and we didn't move the ball well. "Mike kept us in the game, but we didn't move the ball the way we needed to move it. Maybe these last two games are going to be a lesson learned for the playoffs because we're going to have to play much better than we're playing right now on both ends of the court."

http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/basketball/kings/story/12751535p-13603152c.html
 
EmKingsFan4

EmKingsFan4

Starter
#3
#3
"I wasn't myself (Monday night)," said Mobley, who made just 3 of 12 field-goal attempts Saturday night in a loss at Phoenix. "I'm the reason why we lost this game, at least to me, personally. Anybody can say what they want, but I'm definitely the reason we lost this one. It just didn't feel right.

"Everytime the ball left my hand ... me on the court, the whole atmosphere didn't feel right. I was stone-cold (bad Monday). I can't put my finger on it."
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Man, that guy is WAY too hard on himself! Basketball is a team effort and, though I didn't get to watch the game, from what I hear they all pretty much sucked equally. Cheer Up Cat! You'll get your hot streak back in time for Playoffs >>fingers crossed<<
:D
 
D

Diehard Jim

Bench
#4
#4
EmKingsFan4 said:
Man, that guy is WAY too hard on himself! Basketball is a team effort and, though I didn't get to watch the game, from what I hear they all pretty much sucked equally. Cheer Up Cat! You'll get your hot streak back in time for Playoffs >>fingers crossed<<
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I don't think he was too hard on himself, I just think he was man enough to step up to the plate and admit that he played terrible. You are going to have bad nights but he was having a really bad night and so was house.
 
6th

6th

Homer Fan Since 1985
#6
#6
EmKingsFan4 said:
^^I know what you're sayin' but for him to say.."It's all my fault that we lost" that's just taking too much of the responsibility..
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I agree. If he had manned up and said, "I was a huge part of this loss..." it would not have sounded like he was taking sole responsibility. A lot of people have been down on the Cat for his poor play, of late, but let's face it, he has not been alone.

Basketball is really a team sport. Teams win and teams lose. There are games when different people have a larger effect on the outcome, but it will always be the team that wins or loses.
 
piksi

piksi

Hall of Famer
#10
#10
EmKingsFan4 said:
Maybe these last two games are going to be a lesson learned for the playoffs because we're going to have to play much better than we're playing right now on both ends of the court."
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Maybe - maybe not.

Brilliant conclusion BTW. Gee, RA - how did You figure that one out and can't figure that You have a 7 footer sitting on the bench?
 
N.U.F.A.N.

N.U.F.A.N.

Bench
#11
#11
I seriously think were winning our last game. Imagine how much of a season finale that would be... winning against the best record in the league at home!
 
love_them_kings

love_them_kings

Starter
#12
#12
I think my biggest concern is that we can't seem to win on the road lately. we obviously don't have the home court advantage for the playoffs, so unless we find a way to win on the road our post season is going to be very short. BUT, the playoffs are always a different ballgame with a different level of intensity. I know they will be able to step it up.
 
iheartBrad

iheartBrad

All-Star
#13
#13
"I wasn't myself (Monday night)," said Mobley, who made just 3 of 12 field-goal attempts Saturday night in a loss at Phoenix. "I'm the reason why we lost this game, at least to me, personally. Anybody can say what they want, but I'm definitely the reason we lost this one. It just didn't feel right.

"Everytime the ball left my hand ... me on the court, the whole atmosphere didn't feel right. I was stone-cold (bad Monday). I can't put my finger on it."
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Whoa. When was the last time you heard a basketball player exactly something like this after a loss. I agree with Em/6th. After hearing him say that it makes me feel kinda bad for even being disappointed in his performance last night (though i really shouldn't)

Going into this last game...once again...it would be nice to get to the 50 win plateau and cap off the season with a nice win at home against the best team in the league. I suspect pleny of rest of the starters in this one...hopefully it will be entertaining like the first two season matchups have been and not humilating in the last one...but we do play well at home.

GO KINGS!
 
Twix

Twix

Starter
#14
#14
I don't remember the last time a King player said he blame the lost of himself. Not that I care to hear that but it's nice to see the players feeling responsible. I'm not surprise to hear Cuttino say that though, he seem like the type of person that would say that. GO CAT! GO KINGS!
 
VF21

VF21

Super Moderator Emeritus
SME
#15
#15
Martin said it all in one sentence:

...he (Cat) had far too much company in the stink-bomb category to warrant anything near total blame.
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I don't know if the Kings will win tomorrow night or not, but I'm willing to be we'll see a pretty concerted effort.

I LOVE THIS TEAM!!!!!
 
T

teamdimechampionship

Bench
#16
#16
This is not a good sign. Its one thing for Cat's shot to be off. It's a whole different thing for him to feel uncomfortable/out of synch in all aspects of the game. We need a big series from Cat to beat Seattle. I honestly think we need 20 a game out of Cat to make Ray work his a$$ off on D! Shake it off Cat.....we need ya!
 
chelle

chelle

Starter
#21
#21
Then add to it the fact that only Bobby, Darious, and Brad are the only players other that Mike and Peja who were on the team last year. That means that we have 9 guys that were not in King's uniforms last year. Shoot, 5 of them were in different unis at the start of THIS season! To that I have to say, not a bad season record at all!
 
PixelPusher

PixelPusher

Starter
#22
#22
Twix said:
I don't remember the last time a King player said he blame the lost of himself. Not that I care to hear that but it's nice to see the players feeling responsible. I'm not surprise to hear Cuttino say that though, he seem like the type of person that would say that. GO CAT! GO KINGS!
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It's refreshing to hear a professional athlete that's capable of critical self-analysis. His good buddy Steve Francis would do welll to follow his example.

I specifically remember 2 games last year on TNT where the Rockets needed a goal to tie or win and Francis dribbled down the shot clock to about 3 seconds and ended up heaving off-balance shots with defenders in his face while his teammates just stood and watched (both missed, of course). Both times this happened he was asked by reporters about the last posession and both times he said he wouldn't change anything; he'd do it the same way again.

Back inthe TNT studio Barkely said "Yeah, and he'd lose again!"
 
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