http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/story/13839447p-14679656c.html
Mark Kreidler: Maloof has two messes on hands
By Mark Kreidler -- Bee Sports Columnist
Published 2:15 am PST Thursday, November 10, 2005
On Wednesday afternoon, Joe Maloof was a man with at least two NBA problems on his hands. Only for the one was there a semi-quick fix.
That videoboard gaffe from the home opener Tuesday, the stereotype-strewn dissing of Detroit - Maloof had a shot at massaging that. He called Pistons owner Bill Davidson to apologize. He called Pistons coach Flip Saunders to apologize. He directed that ads be placed in newspapers in both Sacramento and Detroit to ... well, you get the idea.
"The whole organization's sick about it," Maloof said by cell phone from Las Vegas, where he was attending a business meeting. "You've got to be careful. Comedy is not a laughing matter, as they say."
Still, Maloof knows the truth, which is that the Detroit deal will fade fairly quickly. A guy in the Sacramento organization tried to get cute with the pregame introduction of the Pistons, and what he thought was funny came off as trashy and mean. Embarrassing, but hardly fatal - and, significantly, preventable in the future.
The Kings, on the other hand, stood at 1-3 at the start of a virtual unknown of a season, and hours away from beginning a two-game set with Denver.
About that, Maloof could do nothing but wait and worry. There's no quick fix for this one.
"Sure, we're concerned. You have to be concerned," Maloof said. "I'm a little surprised, I really am. Not a little - I'm very surprised.
"I thought that our starting five was one of the best in the Western Conference. I don't know, maybe I - I don't know. It's a lot of new players, a lot of young guys. ... We've gotta be patient ... "
Normally, Joe Maloof does not equivocate, and even less often does he ramble. But these are not normal times in the life of the Maloof ownership of the franchise, and even something as seemingly dismissible as a slow start to the season bears closer scrutiny than ever.
To get to where the Maloofs want the Kings to go, which is all the way to approved plans for a new arena and the increased revenue streams that might accompany it, an organization needs two things above all else: a winning product on the floor and a glowing public image surrounding that product.
For a bunch of years in a row, you could almost assume both would be true. The early winning years of this decade brought to a national light Arco Arena's great reputation as a home-court advantage, and the area repeatedly was invoked as this sort of folksy version of how things should be in the NBA.
But you'd be surprised how little it takes to turn around a reputation. Let me throw into the air some disparate mental images: A Lakers jersey lit on fire. Dozens of glow-sticks raining down out of the crowd and onto the Arco floor, delaying a playoff game. A Shaquille O'Neal milestone basketball defaced with an epithet. The Detroit video.
No casual onlooker is going to take the time to parse out the details of each event or separate fan behavior from organizational intent. Far more likely, somebody is just going to connect the dots and say, "Gee, didn't the Kings used to be classy?"
Thus, Joe Maloof's quick action Wednesday, doing the damage control, contacting people personally. Maloof is at his best when he's on task, with something to be accomplished. He was candid in assessing the video, humane in not wanting to fire a good employee for a single mistake, focused on preventing a reoccurrence in the future.
But when it comes to the basketball team he owns, Maloof can do only so much. He understood the breakup of the best Kings teams ever - Chris Webber, Vlade Divac, Doug Christie, Bobby Jackson et al. - as necessary and difficult, but it's another thing entirely to have to watch a new group struggle to find an identity.
"They know we're concerned," Maloof said of coach Rick Adelman and team president Geoff Petrie. "We don't need to say anything to them yet. It's early."
Is there comfort to be had here? Well, last year's team began 1-4 and finished with 50 wins. The year before that, a 4-4 start ended at 55-27. The year before, 3-3 became 59-23.
"We've had a wonderful winning tradition for seven years," Maloof said.
"We've just got to find our way again - which we will."
Maloof sounded enthused. It is a glowing thought, the part about winning.
Ask around: It solves things.
About the writer: Reach Mark Kreidler at (916) 321-1149 or mkreidler@sacbee.com.
Mark Kreidler: Maloof has two messes on hands
By Mark Kreidler -- Bee Sports Columnist
Published 2:15 am PST Thursday, November 10, 2005
On Wednesday afternoon, Joe Maloof was a man with at least two NBA problems on his hands. Only for the one was there a semi-quick fix.
That videoboard gaffe from the home opener Tuesday, the stereotype-strewn dissing of Detroit - Maloof had a shot at massaging that. He called Pistons owner Bill Davidson to apologize. He called Pistons coach Flip Saunders to apologize. He directed that ads be placed in newspapers in both Sacramento and Detroit to ... well, you get the idea.
"The whole organization's sick about it," Maloof said by cell phone from Las Vegas, where he was attending a business meeting. "You've got to be careful. Comedy is not a laughing matter, as they say."
Still, Maloof knows the truth, which is that the Detroit deal will fade fairly quickly. A guy in the Sacramento organization tried to get cute with the pregame introduction of the Pistons, and what he thought was funny came off as trashy and mean. Embarrassing, but hardly fatal - and, significantly, preventable in the future.
The Kings, on the other hand, stood at 1-3 at the start of a virtual unknown of a season, and hours away from beginning a two-game set with Denver.
About that, Maloof could do nothing but wait and worry. There's no quick fix for this one.
"Sure, we're concerned. You have to be concerned," Maloof said. "I'm a little surprised, I really am. Not a little - I'm very surprised.
"I thought that our starting five was one of the best in the Western Conference. I don't know, maybe I - I don't know. It's a lot of new players, a lot of young guys. ... We've gotta be patient ... "
Normally, Joe Maloof does not equivocate, and even less often does he ramble. But these are not normal times in the life of the Maloof ownership of the franchise, and even something as seemingly dismissible as a slow start to the season bears closer scrutiny than ever.
To get to where the Maloofs want the Kings to go, which is all the way to approved plans for a new arena and the increased revenue streams that might accompany it, an organization needs two things above all else: a winning product on the floor and a glowing public image surrounding that product.
For a bunch of years in a row, you could almost assume both would be true. The early winning years of this decade brought to a national light Arco Arena's great reputation as a home-court advantage, and the area repeatedly was invoked as this sort of folksy version of how things should be in the NBA.
But you'd be surprised how little it takes to turn around a reputation. Let me throw into the air some disparate mental images: A Lakers jersey lit on fire. Dozens of glow-sticks raining down out of the crowd and onto the Arco floor, delaying a playoff game. A Shaquille O'Neal milestone basketball defaced with an epithet. The Detroit video.
No casual onlooker is going to take the time to parse out the details of each event or separate fan behavior from organizational intent. Far more likely, somebody is just going to connect the dots and say, "Gee, didn't the Kings used to be classy?"
Thus, Joe Maloof's quick action Wednesday, doing the damage control, contacting people personally. Maloof is at his best when he's on task, with something to be accomplished. He was candid in assessing the video, humane in not wanting to fire a good employee for a single mistake, focused on preventing a reoccurrence in the future.
But when it comes to the basketball team he owns, Maloof can do only so much. He understood the breakup of the best Kings teams ever - Chris Webber, Vlade Divac, Doug Christie, Bobby Jackson et al. - as necessary and difficult, but it's another thing entirely to have to watch a new group struggle to find an identity.
"They know we're concerned," Maloof said of coach Rick Adelman and team president Geoff Petrie. "We don't need to say anything to them yet. It's early."
Is there comfort to be had here? Well, last year's team began 1-4 and finished with 50 wins. The year before that, a 4-4 start ended at 55-27. The year before, 3-3 became 59-23.
"We've had a wonderful winning tradition for seven years," Maloof said.
"We've just got to find our way again - which we will."
Maloof sounded enthused. It is a glowing thought, the part about winning.
Ask around: It solves things.
About the writer: Reach Mark Kreidler at (916) 321-1149 or mkreidler@sacbee.com.
(heck I would have been all for it if somebody had taken a dump on Shaq's ball 
).
.
