http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/basketball/kings/story/14208086p-15034228c.html
Mark Kreidler: Halfway through, these can hold true
By Mark Kreidler -- Bee Columnist
Published 2:15 am PST Sunday, February 19, 2006
Fifty-three games into the Kings' season, and what have we learned?
More than you might think. ...
It is possible, though certainly not preferable, to coach with a rope around one's neck.
When Kenny Thomas says he'd rather be starting, he means it.
There still exists such an animal as a win-win trade.
If Peja Stojakovic had done for the Kings what he's doing for the Pacers, he'd have never been called out in the first place.
Everything they said about Ron Artest as a player is true.
Everything they said about Artest as a personality risk explains why he's in Sacramento.
The time to worry about the Maloofs is when they stop talking.
There really is dribble penetration, and you both need it and need to be able to defend it.
Pureed green beans sucked through a straw and processed past a broken mandible do not, technically, constitute a gourmet meal.
"Gold standard" can be condensed into a single four-letter word if you stand around enough fans after a loss.
Brad Miller does most of his best work when he thinks nobody's looking for him to deliver it.
Leadership is not a concept (the "core"), it's a presence (Artest).
It is possible to get booed at home. But you really have to earn it.
There is no long term in professional sports. If a trade works in the short term, the trade works, period.
You can't apply a season "grade" to a team whose roster makeup undergoes electroshock therapy halfway through.
It doesn't matter where you come from: If you sign on to play in Sacramento, you will be treated like everyone else here.
Which is to say, injured.
Generally speaking, if Mike Bibby is your leading scorer, it indicates that you're stagnating offensively.
And yet: The Kings are 13-9 in games in which Bibby either leads or ties in points scored.
Geoff Petrie didn't wake up one morning suddenly unable to judge talent. (Kevin Martin, Francisco García.)
On the other hand, no one is legally required to believe everything Petrie does is infallible. (Jason Hart.)
That Chris Webber trade may not have been about breaking his salary into flexible smaller pieces after all.
Addendum: The same people who are loving Webber from afar would be killing him if he were still at Arco, scoring points while playing virtually no defense. (Philly's a sub-.500 team, too.)
Given a million chances to threaten an arena ultimatum, the Maloofs have yet to do so.
Those early-season losses really do count the same in the standings as the ones that come later.
There is reason to believe that a lineup of Bibby, Bonzi Wells, Thomas (or Shareef Abdur-Rahim), Artest and Miller could win a fair amount of games.
Why it's but a belief: That lineup has yet to be seen in an actual game. Not once.
Sick as it sounds, Wells' lingering groin injury may drive down his offseason price tag to a level the Kings can afford on the free-agent market.
If the Artest-Stojakovic deal had been done in December, when it was (falsely) rumored to be pondered, this team might be grinding for decent playoff positioning rather than trying to squeak into the No. 8 spot.
Straight up, right now, Golden State, Utah and the Lakers - the three teams standing between the Kings and a playoff spot - are not as good as Sacramento. But the schedules, oh, the schedules.
Even at Arco Arena, the basic formula holds true: Fans need something to cheer about before they cheer anything more than politely.
The face of the franchise, for an optimist, is Martin.
Rick Adelman's defensive-minded assistant coaches, Elston Turner and T.R. Dunn, get a little bit smarter every time Artest steps onto the floor.
A near-.500 record on the road would've been plenty. Really.
The most honest answer to a question came when a member of the coaching staff was asked how much of the Kings' preferred offense they'd be able to run in the wake of the Artest deal and the Wells injury. The reply: "None."
Adelman doesn't look any more stressed this season than he did when his teams were winning in the high 50s and low 60s, which suggests the obvious: He's a perpetual worrier, regardless of the
circumstances.
In other words, a coach.
About the writer: Reach Mark Kreidler at (916) 321-1149 or mkreidler@sacbee.com.
Mark Kreidler: Halfway through, these can hold true
By Mark Kreidler -- Bee Columnist
Published 2:15 am PST Sunday, February 19, 2006
Fifty-three games into the Kings' season, and what have we learned?
More than you might think. ...
It is possible, though certainly not preferable, to coach with a rope around one's neck.
When Kenny Thomas says he'd rather be starting, he means it.
There still exists such an animal as a win-win trade.
If Peja Stojakovic had done for the Kings what he's doing for the Pacers, he'd have never been called out in the first place.
Everything they said about Ron Artest as a player is true.
Everything they said about Artest as a personality risk explains why he's in Sacramento.
The time to worry about the Maloofs is when they stop talking.
There really is dribble penetration, and you both need it and need to be able to defend it.
Pureed green beans sucked through a straw and processed past a broken mandible do not, technically, constitute a gourmet meal.
"Gold standard" can be condensed into a single four-letter word if you stand around enough fans after a loss.
Brad Miller does most of his best work when he thinks nobody's looking for him to deliver it.
Leadership is not a concept (the "core"), it's a presence (Artest).
It is possible to get booed at home. But you really have to earn it.
There is no long term in professional sports. If a trade works in the short term, the trade works, period.
You can't apply a season "grade" to a team whose roster makeup undergoes electroshock therapy halfway through.
It doesn't matter where you come from: If you sign on to play in Sacramento, you will be treated like everyone else here.
Which is to say, injured.
Generally speaking, if Mike Bibby is your leading scorer, it indicates that you're stagnating offensively.
And yet: The Kings are 13-9 in games in which Bibby either leads or ties in points scored.
Geoff Petrie didn't wake up one morning suddenly unable to judge talent. (Kevin Martin, Francisco García.)
On the other hand, no one is legally required to believe everything Petrie does is infallible. (Jason Hart.)
That Chris Webber trade may not have been about breaking his salary into flexible smaller pieces after all.
Addendum: The same people who are loving Webber from afar would be killing him if he were still at Arco, scoring points while playing virtually no defense. (Philly's a sub-.500 team, too.)
Given a million chances to threaten an arena ultimatum, the Maloofs have yet to do so.
Those early-season losses really do count the same in the standings as the ones that come later.
There is reason to believe that a lineup of Bibby, Bonzi Wells, Thomas (or Shareef Abdur-Rahim), Artest and Miller could win a fair amount of games.
Why it's but a belief: That lineup has yet to be seen in an actual game. Not once.
Sick as it sounds, Wells' lingering groin injury may drive down his offseason price tag to a level the Kings can afford on the free-agent market.
If the Artest-Stojakovic deal had been done in December, when it was (falsely) rumored to be pondered, this team might be grinding for decent playoff positioning rather than trying to squeak into the No. 8 spot.
Straight up, right now, Golden State, Utah and the Lakers - the three teams standing between the Kings and a playoff spot - are not as good as Sacramento. But the schedules, oh, the schedules.
Even at Arco Arena, the basic formula holds true: Fans need something to cheer about before they cheer anything more than politely.
The face of the franchise, for an optimist, is Martin.
Rick Adelman's defensive-minded assistant coaches, Elston Turner and T.R. Dunn, get a little bit smarter every time Artest steps onto the floor.
A near-.500 record on the road would've been plenty. Really.
The most honest answer to a question came when a member of the coaching staff was asked how much of the Kings' preferred offense they'd be able to run in the wake of the Artest deal and the Wells injury. The reply: "None."
Adelman doesn't look any more stressed this season than he did when his teams were winning in the high 50s and low 60s, which suggests the obvious: He's a perpetual worrier, regardless of the
circumstances.
In other words, a coach.
About the writer: Reach Mark Kreidler at (916) 321-1149 or mkreidler@sacbee.com.
For a while there I was just jaded and bitter
