Kreidler: Savvy Petrie plays cards close to vest
By Mark Kreidler -- Bee Sports Columnist
Published 2:15 am PDT Tuesday, June 28, 2005
First: When you're a team in a transitional phase and trying to rejigger for future seasons, perfection isn't everything. The Kings once took Peja Stojakovic with a first-round draft pick even though he was (a) a teenager and (b) already under strict contract to a team in Greece, and it was almost four years before he actually became the frontline player they hoped he'd be, and it was OK.
Second: When you're drafting 23rd, those needs just don't all get filled, now, do they? The Kings could use an athletic, physical defender who isn't afraid to slam bodies and knock people to the floor. They may well wind up with a slender three-point specialist who isn't well-rounded enough to have landed higher in the NBA's talent pull today.
And third: They lie.
"They"? Yep. Every one of them. The executives lie. The coaches waffle. The scouts misdirect. Whole organizations shade truths and obfuscate on talent evaluations on the eve of the draft.
Or, to quote Geoff Petrie directly, "Everybody is playing liar's poker. And, of course, we're telling the truth."
That was said in 1998, the year Petrie worked out just about everybody from here to Athens, then said his hope, with the No. 7 overall pick, was to "get a player that will play some minutes this year, and hopefully start down the road."
The pick: Jason Williams, who promptly started the first game of the lockout-abbreviated season in 1999, became an overnight sensation in a good-news-starved NBA and never looked back.
What I'm saying is to forget most of the names you've heard and concentrate on the ones you haven't. Charlie Villanueva, the power forward from UConn? Not if Petrie's history carries the day. Danny Granger of New Mexico? Probably won't slide that far down the line.
Nope, we're looking at a rabbit out of a hat - and it isn't easy being a genius when you're constantly picking players at the bottom of the first round, is it? Petrie's last draft of impact came five years ago, when a player of Hedo Turkoglu's caliber was available at No. 16, and he ultimately mattered more in trade (as part of the Brad Miller deal) than for himself.
We all have players we like, for reasons that make a lot of sense or no sense whatsoever. I'd be happy to see the Kings call Joey Graham's name, assuming the 6-foot-7, 220-pound 'tweener from Oklahoma State could somehow be converted to a two-guard. Kansas front man Wayne Simien makes a certain amount of sense.
But, of course, those are too conventional as choices to actually work in Petrie's system. Let me put it another way: The year Williams came to Sacramento fresh off being booted from the University of Florida team for smoking pot, the "conventional" choices were Raef LaFrentz and Robert "Tractor" Traylor.
It's safe to say Petrie had a different idea about the direction he wanted his roster to go. And Jason Williams accomplished that almost all by himself.
If you're going to be astonished by anything leading up to the Kings' deep-down pick today, be astonished that Petrie even mentioned offense in his predraft assessment, when people all around him (not to mention the Kings themselves) were crying out for more defense.
You did catch that hint, didn't you? It was the part where Petrie said, "I think we need to continue to bolster our three-point shooting, because I don't think you're going anywhere in this league today without three-point shooting."
He said other things, too - about the need for rebounding, for athleticism, for another playmaker on the roster. It's all basically code meaning Petrie will not allow himself to be cornered into drafting for one need when the Kings have plenty of areas in which a decent choice could provide medium-or long-term help.
And anyway, outguessing Petrie is pointless. In 2000, the predraft coverage had the Kings considering players such as Desmond Mason and Quentin Richardson. With those two players on the board and available, Petrie reached out for Turkoglu.
In 2001, with prognosticators eyeing Samuel Dalembert and Steven Hunter, Petrie grabbed a swingman, Gerald Wallace, who had started exactly two games at Alabama and then left after his freshman year. Kevin Martin was the pick at No. 26 last year, and his name wasn't even included in most draft-day stories that mentioned the Kings' spot in the picking order.
Of course, Martin didn't make the Kings' playoff roster last spring, a pretty clear indication that, drafting down near the bottom, you can't always get what you want - if what you want is sudden impact. Petrie's standing in the Local Genius club probably depends upon his being able to at least get what he needs.
About the writer: Reach Mark Kreidler at (916) 321-1149 or mkreidler@sacbee.com.
http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/story/13142894p-13986882c.html
By Mark Kreidler -- Bee Sports Columnist
Published 2:15 am PDT Tuesday, June 28, 2005
First: When you're a team in a transitional phase and trying to rejigger for future seasons, perfection isn't everything. The Kings once took Peja Stojakovic with a first-round draft pick even though he was (a) a teenager and (b) already under strict contract to a team in Greece, and it was almost four years before he actually became the frontline player they hoped he'd be, and it was OK.
Second: When you're drafting 23rd, those needs just don't all get filled, now, do they? The Kings could use an athletic, physical defender who isn't afraid to slam bodies and knock people to the floor. They may well wind up with a slender three-point specialist who isn't well-rounded enough to have landed higher in the NBA's talent pull today.
And third: They lie.
"They"? Yep. Every one of them. The executives lie. The coaches waffle. The scouts misdirect. Whole organizations shade truths and obfuscate on talent evaluations on the eve of the draft.
Or, to quote Geoff Petrie directly, "Everybody is playing liar's poker. And, of course, we're telling the truth."
That was said in 1998, the year Petrie worked out just about everybody from here to Athens, then said his hope, with the No. 7 overall pick, was to "get a player that will play some minutes this year, and hopefully start down the road."
The pick: Jason Williams, who promptly started the first game of the lockout-abbreviated season in 1999, became an overnight sensation in a good-news-starved NBA and never looked back.
What I'm saying is to forget most of the names you've heard and concentrate on the ones you haven't. Charlie Villanueva, the power forward from UConn? Not if Petrie's history carries the day. Danny Granger of New Mexico? Probably won't slide that far down the line.
Nope, we're looking at a rabbit out of a hat - and it isn't easy being a genius when you're constantly picking players at the bottom of the first round, is it? Petrie's last draft of impact came five years ago, when a player of Hedo Turkoglu's caliber was available at No. 16, and he ultimately mattered more in trade (as part of the Brad Miller deal) than for himself.
We all have players we like, for reasons that make a lot of sense or no sense whatsoever. I'd be happy to see the Kings call Joey Graham's name, assuming the 6-foot-7, 220-pound 'tweener from Oklahoma State could somehow be converted to a two-guard. Kansas front man Wayne Simien makes a certain amount of sense.
But, of course, those are too conventional as choices to actually work in Petrie's system. Let me put it another way: The year Williams came to Sacramento fresh off being booted from the University of Florida team for smoking pot, the "conventional" choices were Raef LaFrentz and Robert "Tractor" Traylor.
It's safe to say Petrie had a different idea about the direction he wanted his roster to go. And Jason Williams accomplished that almost all by himself.
If you're going to be astonished by anything leading up to the Kings' deep-down pick today, be astonished that Petrie even mentioned offense in his predraft assessment, when people all around him (not to mention the Kings themselves) were crying out for more defense.
You did catch that hint, didn't you? It was the part where Petrie said, "I think we need to continue to bolster our three-point shooting, because I don't think you're going anywhere in this league today without three-point shooting."
He said other things, too - about the need for rebounding, for athleticism, for another playmaker on the roster. It's all basically code meaning Petrie will not allow himself to be cornered into drafting for one need when the Kings have plenty of areas in which a decent choice could provide medium-or long-term help.
And anyway, outguessing Petrie is pointless. In 2000, the predraft coverage had the Kings considering players such as Desmond Mason and Quentin Richardson. With those two players on the board and available, Petrie reached out for Turkoglu.
In 2001, with prognosticators eyeing Samuel Dalembert and Steven Hunter, Petrie grabbed a swingman, Gerald Wallace, who had started exactly two games at Alabama and then left after his freshman year. Kevin Martin was the pick at No. 26 last year, and his name wasn't even included in most draft-day stories that mentioned the Kings' spot in the picking order.
Of course, Martin didn't make the Kings' playoff roster last spring, a pretty clear indication that, drafting down near the bottom, you can't always get what you want - if what you want is sudden impact. Petrie's standing in the Local Genius club probably depends upon his being able to at least get what he needs.
About the writer: Reach Mark Kreidler at (916) 321-1149 or mkreidler@sacbee.com.
http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/story/13142894p-13986882c.html