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New attitude is first step for rebuilding Kings
By Scott Howard-Cooper, for NBA.com
Posted Oct 16 2009 6:44PM
How and when the problems actually started is difficult to determine. But they began to manifest a year ago, sometime around the end of October or beginning of November.
The start of the season.
The Kings quit at the start of the season.
There is the frustration created by an avalanche of losses, there are the typical groaning March moments of four games in five nights or something in snowy road cities and there is the siren's call of summer vacation as the schedule insists otherwise, but they didn't even give it that long. The Kings rolled over -- on themselves, on outbound coach Reggie Theus, on what remained of the fan base -- with shocking immediacy in 2008-09 in the harshest sign of the apathy that permeated the same Arco Arena locker room where enviable chemistry once ruled.
So it is that the success rate of the season ahead won't be tracked solely in the standings. The Kings are an obvious pick to finish last in a Pacific Division in which every other team could break .500. Being at the bottom of the Western Conference and the entire league come April 2010 would be predictable as well, but they can still begin the climb back if the personality changes and the defeats at least come with renewed energy.
On the other hand, nothing says for certain they have hit bottom yet. The 17-65 record may have been the worst in the league, but it also came with veterans John Salmons playing 53 games and Brad Miller playing 43, and both are gone. While Miller was the symbol of poor energy, Salmons' departure removes the second-highest scoring average on the team and leaves Kevin Martin as the only returning King to post more than 13 points a game. Salmons was also a good defender on a roster that couldn't afford to lose anyone close to competent on the side. And Bobby Jackson, another strong voice in a group sorely lacking leadership, was not re-signed.
What may take the court for opening night, depending on calls by new coach Paul Westphal, is a starting lineup with a rookie point guard with little experience as a point guard (Tyreke Evans), second-year power forward Jason Thompson and third-year center Spencer Hawes, along with Martin at shooting guard and either Francisco Garcia or Andres Nocioni at small forward. There are still a lot of growing pains ahead.
"I won't address something I wasn't around to see in person, so I would just speak in generalities, that what we're trying to do is load this team up not only with talented players but competitive people," Westphal said. "I think we addressed that in the draft, we addressed that in some of our free-agent signings. I think that in this league, that kind of attitude can make a difference. Those are the kinds of guys we're looking for."
Evans, the No. 4 pick in June, will bring an aggressive, physical style at 6-foot-6 and 220 pounds and get into the lane. Desmond Mason, signed as a free agent, will provide a veteran's voice, if anyone wants to listen. Nocioni, in his first full season with the Kings after being acquired from the Bulls in the Salmons-Miller deal just before the deadline, is the toughness and energy that was so lacking.
This team will be working its way up from the bottom in most every way -- 30th in shooting defense, 29th in scoring defense, 25th in shooting, 29th in rebound percentage. Even 30th in attendance, a particular blow for an organization that once had one of the great home-court advantages.
Now, the team is bad, the gym is in disrepair and it's difficult to do anything about either pressing problem because the California economy is hurting more than most places. The Kings need a new arena, but can't get a deal done. They needed a new coach, but tried fiscal restraint and lost Kurt Rambis, who felt like he got low-balled.
Come to think of it, maybe this is bottom.
"No one's content with winning 17 games," Hawes said. "Any way you slice it, there's no excuse for that, so this is a big year for all of us. None of us should feel content who were a part of that last year. I think it's already started changing that culture and changing the perception around the league of what this franchise is going to stand for, what we're going to be about, and it continues through training camp, through preseason and then on to the regular season."
Maybe they'll make it through the first few games with focus and energy this time. Maybe the attitude will change. That would be meaningful progress, no matter what happens in the standings
